Supreme Court Reinstates Conviction in 1979 Murder of Etan Patz

A federal appeals court previously reversed the conviction, finding fault with the trial judge’s instructions to the jury.

A photograph of Etan Patz hangs on an angel figurine, as part of a makeshift memorial in the SoHo neighborhood of New York on May 28, 2012. Mark Lennihan/AP Photo

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 22 reinstated the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez, who was tried in relation to the high-profile disappearance of six-year-old Etan Patz in 1979.

The court’s 6–3 decision took the form of an unsigned order and opinion, in which the justices said an appeals court exceeded its authority in how it handled Hernandez’s verdict from a state court in New York. No oral argument was held. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented but did not explain why.