MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Three boxes filled with evidence related to the disappearance of Etan Patz in 1979 were recently found at a Harlem police station, and could derail the trial of the child's suspected murderer, defense lawyers said Monday.
The boxes contain thousands of police records from the investigation into what happened to the 6-year-old SoHo boy, who vanished without a trace more than 35 years ago. The boxes were unearthed in an NYPD stationhouse on Frederick Douglass Boulevard in the middle of the murder trial of Pedro Hernandez, who has confessed to killing Patz.
“Given this massive disclosure at this point, in the middle of the trial, there may be issues," said Alice Fontier, one of Hernandez’s lawyers, on Monday, according to the Associated Press. "We may need to recall some of [the prosecution's] witnesses. We may need to move for a mistrial.”
Fontier said in court that one of the boxes alone contains more than 1,400 pages of evidence, including handwritten notes from a detective who was investigating a longtime suspect in the case, Jose Ramos, a convicted child molester.
Though the files are voluminous, much of the information they contain has already been seen or is not relevant to the trial, like missing children posters, according to law enforcement sources.
Lead defense attorney Harvey Fishbein said it’s too early to know how the newly introduced evidence could affect the trial.
“At a minimum, it shows the historical file is incomplete,” he told reporters outside of the courtroom. “We’re hopeful we don’t have to ask for a mistrial.”
Hernandez is on trial for killing Patz, who disappeared on the day he walked to the school bus by himself for the first time.
Hernandez confessed to the crime two years ago, but has since pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argue he suffers from mental illness and his confession was coerced.
