McCarthy v. Hernandez (Habeas and Miranda)

Send us Fan MailIn a per curiam decision, the Supreme Court summarily reversed the Second Circuit’s grant of federal habeas relief to Pedro Hernandez, who was convicted of kidnapping and felony murder in the 1979 disappearance and death of Etan Patz. The Second Circuit had concluded that the state trial judge should have told the jury about the rule from Missouri v. Seibert governing when a confession obtained after a delayed Miranda warning may be tainted by an earlier unwarned confession. Because the judge instead answered the jury’s question with a simple “no,” the Second Circuit found that the state courts had unreasonably applied clearly established federal law. The Supreme Court disagreed, explaining that Seibert concerns a judge’s decision whether to suppress a confession and says nothing about what juries must be instructed to consider. Because no Supreme Court precedent required the jury instruction the Second Circuit demanded, and because federal habeas courts may not overturn state convictions by extending existing precedents into new contexts, the Court held that AEDPA barred relief and reinstated Hernandez’s conviction.Support the show