Lone Holdout on Etan Patz Jury Says He Couldn't Get Beyond Reasonable Doubt
1. Lone Holdout on Etan Patz Jury Says He Couldn't Get
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
One juror refused to budge in the case of missing New York City boy Etan Patz, resulting in a
mistrial today after 18 days of deliberations.
Pedro Hernandez was on trial for allegedly murdering Etan in 1979. But one juror, identified by only
his first name, Adam, said he couldn't get beyond reasonable doubt. He said "mental health issues"
were a big factor in why he couldn't convict Hernandez and he called Hernandez's confession "very
bizarre."
"I couldn't find enough evidence that wasn't circumstantial to convict," Adam said. "I couldn't get
there."
WABC
PHOTO: One juror, identified by only his first name, Adam, couldn't get beyond reasonable doubt to
convict Hernandez.
Adam said the deliberations "got heated sometimes," but "it wasn't torture." He called his fellow
jurors "very respectful" of his position.
Another juror, identified by only his first name, Chris, said the majority of the jurors were confident
2. in their positions.
"We deliberated long and hard, clearly... and it came out to be 11 to 1, guilty / not guilty," Chris said.
"The mandate was clearly not to convict on words alone, and we felt that we were very comfortable
in our position rendering a guilty verdict."
"They'll get him next time," said a woman who identified herself as juror #1. "Pedro Hernandez: you
know what you did."
The jury deliberated over 18 days and deadlocked three times before Judge Maxwell Wiley declared
a mistrial today.
Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo
PHOTO: Stan Patz, father of Etan Patz, pauses as he speaks about his son at a press conference,
after a judge declared a mistrial for Pedro Hernandez at Manhattan Supreme Court, May 8, 2015, in
New York.
"We are frustrated and very disappointed that the jury has been unable to come to a decision,"
Etan's father Stan Patz told reporters today.
"This man did it," Stan Patz said. "He said it. How many times does a man have to confess before
someone believes him?"
"Maybe Pedro Hernandez is a different man, now that he's mature and 54, but when he was 18 years
3. old, he did something terrible, and he should pay for that," Stan Patz added. "Our long ordeal is not
over."
Kevin Hagen/AP Photo
PHOTO: Rosemary Hernandez and her daughter Becky Hernandez leave court after a mistrial was
declared in Perdro Hernandez's murder trial, May 8, 2015 in New York.
But defense attorneys said Hernandez was "inconsistent and unreliable" when he confessed to
relatives, friends and police.
"I would say that there's only a resolution if the correct man is held responsible, and we firmly
believe that Pedro Hernandez is not the right man," defense attorney Harvey Fishbein said. "We are
disappointed that there couldn't be a resolution, but if the District Attorney's office chooses to retry
this case, we will be ready."
Prosecutors immediately requested a June 10 control date to set a new trial date. While prosecutors
did not explicitly say in court whether they would retry the case, according to official in the District
Attorney's office, "we are moving towards a retrial."
Etan disappeared on May 25, 1979, sparking a national effort to put photos of missing children on
milk cartons. Etan became one of the nation's most notorious missing children cases, and May 25 is
now known as National Missing Children's Day.
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