Prosecutors have just over seven months to retry Pedro Hernandez, the man convicted of abducting and murdering 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City in the 1970s , a judge ruled Friday.

The federal judge set a deadline of June 1, 2026. If jury selection for a retrial does not begin by that date, Hernandez will be released, the judge said.

The judge also wrote there was "no reason why Hernandez could not ask the New York State Supreme Court to admit him to bail in advance of any retrial."

If prosecutors proceed with a retrial, it will be Hernandez's third in this case. The Manhattan district attorney has declined to comment at this time.

Timeline of Etan Patz case

Etan disappeared while walking to his school bus stop in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood in 1979. His body was neve

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