Jury deliberates in Etan Patz murder trial without reaching verdict
Becky Hernandez, left, daughter of Pedro Hernandez and Rosemary, her mother and wife of Pedro walk in the hallway of Manhattan Supreme Court during the murder trial of Hernandez on Thursday, April 16, 2015. Credit: Yeong-Ung Yang
The jury in the Etan Patz murder trial completed its first full day of deliberations Thursday without a verdict on kidnapping and murder charges against ex-bodega clerk Pedro Hernandez.
During the day, the panel asked for a readback of testimony from Hernandez's ex-wife Daisy, all of his medical records, a map of the SoHo neighborhood where Etan vanished in 1979, and all digital evidence including two taped confessions.
Jurors also had the judge reread his instructions allowing them to throw out a confession if it is involuntary, and explaining the standard for determining if a confession is voluntary or not.
Hernandez confessed in 2012, but the defense claims that police took advantage of his low IQ and a mental disorder to manipulate him into false admissions. His ex-wife, who has had child support disputes with him, testified that he told her in the 1980s that he killed someone, and that she later found a picture of Etan in a box of his personal papers.
Deliberations are scheduled to resume Friday.
Sarra Sounds Off, Season 3, Ep 2: Garden City vs. Massapequa, fantasy update and plays of the week Gregg Sarra sounds off on the hype of the Garden City vs. Massapequa matchup, plus Tess Ferguson at Floyd girls tennis with the Van Cott twins, the plays of the week and a high school fantasy football update on the latest epsiode of Sarra Sounds Off.
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