US Supreme Court restores Etan Patz conviction, stalls Trump sexual abuse appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court recently reinstated the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez in the decades-old Etan Patz missing child case. In a 6-3 decision on Monday, the high court reversed a federal appeals court ruling that had overturned Hernandez's 2017 conviction for the 1979 disappearance and death of six-year-old Patz. The Supreme Court asserted that the lower appellate court had overstepped its authority by re-evaluating the evidence, reinforcing a 1996 law that limits federal court oversight of state criminal convictions.

Concurrently, an appeal from former President Donald Trump concerning a sexual abuse verdict has been repeatedly delayed by the Supreme Court. Trump is challenging a $5 million judgment awarded to E. Jean Carroll, whom a federal jury found he sexually abused and defamed. The politically sensitive appeal has been rescheduled 15 times since its November filing without public explanation, a delay that has deferred the payout of the verdict to Carroll.