New York
Prosecutors ask U.S. Supreme Court to restore conviction in Patz missing child case
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City prosecutors asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to reinstate a murder conviction in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
Even as prosecutors prepare to retry the accused man, Pedro Hernandez, they are hoping the Supreme Court will short-circuit that process by reinstating his 2017 conviction. A federal appeals court overturned the verdict this summer, faulting how a New York trial judge had answered a question from jurors.
"That invalidation of a state jury verdict on such a slender reed flouted" a law that limits when federal courts can invalidate a state-court conviction, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and some high-ranking deputies wrote in the filing.
They asked the high court, essentially, to reverse the reversal of Hernandez' conviction. Prosecutors noted that it came after a five-month-long trial with 66 witnesses, some of whom have since died.
A message seeking comment was sent to Hernandez's lawyers.
Meanwhile, prosecutors and Hernandez's attorneys are due in court Friday to discuss scheduling and steps leading toward a retrial. A different judge is presiding, as the case's former judge is no longer on the bench.
Under federal court rulings in the case, jury selection must begin by June 1, or Hernandez must be released from prison. Now 64, he has been serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Hernandez admitted to the crime under police questioning, but his lawyers say he confessed falsely because of a mental illness that sometimes made him hallucinate. They emphasized that the admission came after police queried him for about seven hours before reading him his rights and recording the interview. Hernandez then repeated his confession on tape, at least twice.
Etan vanished while walking to his downtown Manhattan school bus stop on May 25, 1979. Hernandez worked at a nearby convenience shop at the time, but the Maple Shade, New Jersey, resident didn't become a suspect until 2012.
Etan was among the first missing children ever to appear on milk cartons, and the anniversary of his disappearance became National Missing Children's Day.
Hernandez already has been tried twice. A jury deadlocked in 2015, and then a different panel of jurors convicted him at a 2017 retrial.
During deliberations, the 2017 jurors asked a complicated question: If they decided Hernandez didn't confess voluntarily when he hadn't been read his rights yet, must they disregard his other confessions? The then-judge responded simply, "the answer is no." The jury went on to convict.
In overturning that verdict, the appeals court said the jury's question should have gotten a more fulsome answer, including the possibility of discounting all the confessions.
New York
Former state prison guard sentenced to up to life in prison in inmate's death
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state prison guard convicted of murder for his role in the brutal beating of an inmate that was captured on body-camera footage was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison.
David Kingsley also received a 25-year sentence for a manslaughter conviction in the case. He is the only former guard convicted of murder in the death of Robert Brooks, who was pummeled by corrections officers on the night of Dec. 9, 2024, at Marcy Correctional Facility. Five other guards charged in the 43-year-old Black man's death have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Video footage of Brooks in handcuffs being punched and stomped by guards triggered widespread shock and calls for reform in New York's prisons.
Six guards were indicted by a grand jury for murder charges brought earlier this year by the special prosecutor, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who also charged four others with lesser crimes. Three of the defendants charged with murder later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
Prosecutors said Kingsley deserved the maximum sentence because he refused to take responsibility for his actions and made Brooks' family go through the trauma of a trial. Speaking in court before the sentence was imposed, Kingsley apologized to Brooks' relatives for his role in the "senseless" actions that led to his death.
The victim's son, Robert Brooks Jr., said that he hopes the case will prevent similar incidents in the future. Brooks' brother, Jared Ricks, added that while forgiveness is a long way off, justice being served is a step on that path.
Kingsley, 45, was one of three guards tried before a jury in October on charges of murder and first-degree manslaughter. He was the only one of the trio found guilty. Body-camera footage played at the trial showed him holding Brooks by the neck and lifting him as multiple guards surrounded the handcuffed man.
A final defendant is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 12 on a second-degree manslaughter charge. Another guard was released from prison this month as he attempts to withdraw his guilty plea to second-degree manslaughter.
Fitzpatrick became the special prosecutor after state Attorney General Letitia James recused herself, citing her office's representation of several officers in separate lawsuits. He also is prosecuting guards in the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at a nearby prison, the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Ten guards were indicted in April, including two who are charged with murder, in Nantwi's death.
Prosecutors ask U.S. Supreme Court to restore conviction in Patz missing child case
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City prosecutors asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to reinstate a murder conviction in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
Even as prosecutors prepare to retry the accused man, Pedro Hernandez, they are hoping the Supreme Court will short-circuit that process by reinstating his 2017 conviction. A federal appeals court overturned the verdict this summer, faulting how a New York trial judge had answered a question from jurors.
"That invalidation of a state jury verdict on such a slender reed flouted" a law that limits when federal courts can invalidate a state-court conviction, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and some high-ranking deputies wrote in the filing.
They asked the high court, essentially, to reverse the reversal of Hernandez' conviction. Prosecutors noted that it came after a five-month-long trial with 66 witnesses, some of whom have since died.
A message seeking comment was sent to Hernandez's lawyers.
Meanwhile, prosecutors and Hernandez's attorneys are due in court Friday to discuss scheduling and steps leading toward a retrial. A different judge is presiding, as the case's former judge is no longer on the bench.
Under federal court rulings in the case, jury selection must begin by June 1, or Hernandez must be released from prison. Now 64, he has been serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Hernandez admitted to the crime under police questioning, but his lawyers say he confessed falsely because of a mental illness that sometimes made him hallucinate. They emphasized that the admission came after police queried him for about seven hours before reading him his rights and recording the interview. Hernandez then repeated his confession on tape, at least twice.
Etan vanished while walking to his downtown Manhattan school bus stop on May 25, 1979. Hernandez worked at a nearby convenience shop at the time, but the Maple Shade, New Jersey, resident didn't become a suspect until 2012.
Etan was among the first missing children ever to appear on milk cartons, and the anniversary of his disappearance became National Missing Children's Day.
Hernandez already has been tried twice. A jury deadlocked in 2015, and then a different panel of jurors convicted him at a 2017 retrial.
During deliberations, the 2017 jurors asked a complicated question: If they decided Hernandez didn't confess voluntarily when he hadn't been read his rights yet, must they disregard his other confessions? The then-judge responded simply, "the answer is no." The jury went on to convict.
In overturning that verdict, the appeals court said the jury's question should have gotten a more fulsome answer, including the possibility of discounting all the confessions.
New York
Former state prison guard sentenced to up to life in prison in inmate's death
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state prison guard convicted of murder for his role in the brutal beating of an inmate that was captured on body-camera footage was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison.
David Kingsley also received a 25-year sentence for a manslaughter conviction in the case. He is the only former guard convicted of murder in the death of Robert Brooks, who was pummeled by corrections officers on the night of Dec. 9, 2024, at Marcy Correctional Facility. Five other guards charged in the 43-year-old Black man's death have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Video footage of Brooks in handcuffs being punched and stomped by guards triggered widespread shock and calls for reform in New York's prisons.
Six guards were indicted by a grand jury for murder charges brought earlier this year by the special prosecutor, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who also charged four others with lesser crimes. Three of the defendants charged with murder later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
Prosecutors said Kingsley deserved the maximum sentence because he refused to take responsibility for his actions and made Brooks' family go through the trauma of a trial. Speaking in court before the sentence was imposed, Kingsley apologized to Brooks' relatives for his role in the "senseless" actions that led to his death.
The victim's son, Robert Brooks Jr., said that he hopes the case will prevent similar incidents in the future. Brooks' brother, Jared Ricks, added that while forgiveness is a long way off, justice being served is a step on that path.
Kingsley, 45, was one of three guards tried before a jury in October on charges of murder and first-degree manslaughter. He was the only one of the trio found guilty. Body-camera footage played at the trial showed him holding Brooks by the neck and lifting him as multiple guards surrounded the handcuffed man.
A final defendant is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 12 on a second-degree manslaughter charge. Another guard was released from prison this month as he attempts to withdraw his guilty plea to second-degree manslaughter.
Fitzpatrick became the special prosecutor after state Attorney General Letitia James recused herself, citing her office's representation of several officers in separate lawsuits. He also is prosecuting guards in the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at a nearby prison, the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Ten guards were indicted in April, including two who are charged with murder, in Nantwi's death.
