is first trial in 2015 ended in a deadlocked jury. He was convicted at a 2017 retrial, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit later reversed his murder and kidnapping conviction. The appeals court took issue with how the trial judge answered a complicated question from jurors regarding Hernandez's Miranda rights and his multiple confessions.

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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg strongly criticized the appeals court's decision, arguing that the basis for overturning the conviction was  a slender reed  that ignored the immense weight of a five-month trial featuring 66 witnesses. Prosecutors had already been preparing to try Hernandez for a third time.

On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed with Bragg's office. In an unsigned majority opinion, the justices ruled that federal courts should not second-guess state courts under a 1996 federal law designed to limit federal oversight of state criminal trials. The court wrote that the Second Circuit  exceeded its authority in holding that Hernandez is entitled to relief.