No Verdict After 17th Day Of Deliberations In Etan Patz Murder Case
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Day 17 of jury deliberations in the Etan Patz murder case drew to a close Thursday with still no verdict.
There has been no word from the jury since it sent its second deadlock note Tuesday.
Defense attorney Harvey Fishbein told WCBS 880's Irene Cornell the silence could be a sign that jurors might actually reach an unanimous decisions.
No Verdict After 17th Day Of Deliberations In Etan Patz Murder Case
Jurors in the Etan Patz murder case are returning Thursday for a 17th day of deliberations.
The jury is considering the case against Pedro Hernandez, 54, who has confessed to killing the 6-year-old boy in SoHo in May 1979. He said he lured Patz into a bodega basement and strangled him.
The defense maintains Hernandez made up the story due to mental illness.
Earlier this week, jurors told a judge for the second time that it is deadlocked and cannot reach a unanimous verdict. On Tuesday, Judge Maxwell Wiley ordered the jury to continue deliberating.
Etan Patz Case Goes Into Day 17 Of Jury Deliberations
The length of the deliberations could prove to be one for the record books for a deadlocked jury.
Not all juries are so dedicated.
For example, in the first trial of John "Junior" Gotti in 2006, the jury was out for only two days before telling the judge, "We are completely deadlocked, more time will not change the views in this room. We want to leave, ASAP," Cornell reported. But then, no jury was willing to convict Gotti.
As for radical lawyer Lynne Stewart, the jury was out for 13 days before convicting her in a terrorism case.
Jurors in the Patz case are deciding whether Hernandez is guilty or not on three separate charges: second-degree murder, felony murder and kidnapping.
The two different murder charges result from different theories under the law. If the jury finds that Hernandez deliberately killed Etan, they will convict him on second-degree murder charges.
If the panel decides Etan's death resulted from actions during the course of a kidnapping, they will find him guilty on the felony murder charge.
Each of the three charges is punishable by 25 years to life in prison.
