The Brief The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to reinstate the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez for the infamous 1979 killing of 6-year-old Etan Patz in SoHo. The decision undoes a lower federal court's ruling that had previously thrown out the 2017 guilty verdict. The Supreme Court majority ruled that the lower appeals court overstepped its authority by second-guessing the state court's handling of the trial.



The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the murder conviction of the man found guilty of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz on Monday.

What we know:

In a 6-3 decision, the justices granted an appeal from Manhattan prosecutors, undoing a lower federal court's ruling that had previously overturned the verdict against Pedro Hernandez. The court's three liberal justices dissented.

The decision brings a dramatic legal reversal to one of New York City's most infamous cold cases.

Patz disappearance

The backstory:

Etan Patz vanished on May 25, 1979, while walking alone for the first time to his school bus stop in SoHo. His disappearance terrified city parents, fundamentally changed how America responds to missing children, and made Etan one of the first children to have his face printed on a milk carton. Today, the anniversary of his disappearance is recognized as National Missing Children's Day.

Hernandez, now 64, worked at a convenience store near the bus stop at the time but didn't become a suspect until 2012. He is currently serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.


During his 2012 interrogations, Hernandez confessed to the crime. However, his defense attorneys have long maintained that his confessions were false, driven by a mental illness that caused him to hallucinate.

His lawyers emphasized that his initial admission only came after police questioned him for roughly seven hours before reading him his rights and recording the interview. Hernandez later repeated the confession on tape at least twice. Monday's ruling ensures those convictions stand.

Legal battle

Dig deeper:

Hernandez's path through the justice system has been notoriously complex. H

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