NEW YORK (AP) – The jury in the murder trial of a man accused of kidnapping and killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979 said Wednesday that it is deadlocked, but the judge told them to keep deliberating.
The jurors sent a note to the judge saying they have been unable to reach a unanimous decision after 10 days of deliberations in the trial of Pedro Hernandez.
The defense argued for a mistrial, saying it was obvious the jury was hung.
“Any charge to them at this point, even sending a note in to them saying, ‘Would you like to try harder?’ is inherently coercive,” said lawyer Alice Fontier. “We believe that a mistrial is warranted, and any further proceedings after that are over the strenuous objections of the defense.”
The judge denied the defense request and told jurors to keep deliberating.