A federal judge is currently examining the case of a New York man whose conviction for the 1979 murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz was recently overturned.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that Pedro Hernandez should either face a new trial or be released. This decision follows the July overturning of his conviction, which was attributed to flawed jury instructions, as reported by ABC 6.

A panel of three judges concluded that the instructions provided to the jury during Hernandez’s 2017 trial were inadequate, particularly regarding his confessions.

During deliberations in the second trial, the jury submitted three separate notes to the judge concerning Hernandez’s confessions, according to a July order.

One of the key inquiries from the jury was whether, if they deemed Hernandez’s initial confession—obtained without a Miranda warning—as involuntary, they were required to disregard subsequent confessions, including those recorded on video at the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Along with flawed jury instruction, the appeal claimed that there were also issues with police interrogation and Hernandez’s mental health.

In return, prosecutors have requested 90 days to determine whether they will retry Hernandez. The defense is asking for the decision to be made within a month.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Hernandez, an 18-year-old bodega clerk at the time, confessed to strangling Etan after luring him from a school bus stop in New York City, by promising him a soda.

Etan’s remains have never been found, and no forensic evidence has linked Hernandez to the crime.

Police initially arrested Hernandez for second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in 2012, but his first trial in 2015 ended with a hung jury.

In 2017, a jury deliberated for nine days before convicting him of both crimes.

Hernandez’s attorneys claimed he was mentally ill and that he only issued a confession after seven hours of police questioning.

The Manhattan DA’s office said Hernandez should remain incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility until the Supreme Court makes its decision.

US District Judge Colleen McMahon said she would make a ruling within a few days.

Check back for updates.

[Feature Photo: FILE – This May 28, 2012, file photo shows a newspaper with a photograph of Etan Patz at a makeshift memorial in the SoHo neighborhood of New York where Patz lived before his disappearance on May 25, 1979. The memorial was set up near a building that housed a convenience store where Pedro Hernandez, accused of killing Patz, told police 33 years after they boy’s disappearance, that he choked the 6-year-old and put the still-living boy into a plastic bag, boxed up the bag and left it on a street. Opening statements in Hernandez’s trial are set for Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)]