By ELIZABETH ELIZALDE
Jurors in the Etan Patz murder trial returned for a tenth day of deliberations without reaching a verdict to convict a man accused of killing the six-year-old boy 36 years ago and the lengthy process seemed to be taking its toll on juors and spectators alike
Tension filled the Manhattan courtroom, and after hours waiting for a verdict, Judge Maxwell Wiley said, “Nothing’s going on,” indicating the jurors were still deliberating the fate of the defendant Pedro Hernandez.
The jury of seven men and five women has requested, maps, exhibits, read-backs of testimony and even asked the judge to use a computer to organize their thoughts on an Excel spreadsheet.
Judge Wiley provided the panel with their requests and told them that Hernandez’s confession was not enough to convict him of murder.
Etan vanished without a trace walking to a school bus stop in his SoHo neighborhood on May 25th, 1979. Hernandez, 54, told investigators in a 2012 videotape confession that he strangled the boy, put him a plastic bag, stuffed his body in a box and disposed of it at a street curb.
Hernandez said that when he returned the next day the box was no longer there. Etan’s body was never found.
Defense attorney Harvey Fishbein said that long deliberations were not unusual in a high profile case and that it shows that jurors are considering the 12 pieces of evidence they requested.
“Every jury deliberation is unique,” he told reporters, including Brooklyn News Service outside the courtroom.. “I don’t think there is anything shocking about this jury taking almost two weeks on a 10-week complex trial,”
The defense tried to plant doubt in jurors that convicted child molester Jose Ramos was the real killer. The Patz family believed Ramos was a prime suspect in Etan’s disappearance because he dated Susan Harrington, the boy’s babysitter at the time.
With no physical evidence tying Hernandez to Etan’s murder, jurors are torn between Ramos and Hernandez
Jurors on Monday asked for a reading of FBI agent Mary Galligan and former federal prosecutor Stuart GraBois’ testimonies. Both investigated Ramos in the case but never charged Ramos in the case.
Ramos told two jailhouse informants that he was “90 percent” sure that the boy he picked up in Washington Square Park was Etan, but the prosecution doesn’t buy the theory.
Ramos never took the witness stand. Instead, the 71 – year old pedophile was uncooperative and vowed to plead the fifth regarding Etan.
The prosecution led by Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi – Orbon, has worked hard to convince jurors that Hernandez is not mentally ill. But the defense says that Hernandez falsely confessed to killing the boy as a result of police pressure, and that he dreamed up scenarios in his head due to his personality disorder.
Fishbein acknowledged that length of the trial is also taking a toll on jurors and the Hernandez family.
“They do look tired, but it’s also having its toll on the Hernandez family,” Fishbein said.
As for his client, Fishbein says it’s unimaginable what Hernandez is feeling since he’s been in jail for almost three years.
He noted that the defendant’s wife and daughter have attended each day of deliberations and that they’ve had to take leaves on their jobs.
“It’s been a difficult experience for them,” Fishbein said.
Hernandez faces life in prison if convicted of murder and kidnap charges. The jury was scheduled to continue deliberations on Wednesday.
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