Patz Holdout Juror ‘Disappointed by the Verdict'

"I hope that an appeals court will send the case back for re-trial," Adam Sirois told NBC

He still doesn't buy it. 

The lone holdout juror who forced a mistrial in the first Pedro Hernandez murder case told NBC he's disappointed with the guilty verdict Tuesday following a second trial. 

"While I can appreciate the wish for closure to this terrible story, I am disappointed by the verdict," Adam Sirois told NBC in an email Wednesday. "I still believe that Mr. Hernandez's confession is false." 

"I hope that an appeals court will send the case back for re-trial," he added. 

Hernandez was found guilty of murder in the death of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy who vanished from his SoHo neighborhood in 1979 while walking to the school bus.

A previous trial ended in a hung jury after 18 days of deliberations, with Sirois being the only juror to hold out.

Hernandez was a store clerk in a nearby bodega at the time Etan vanished. He was arrested for the crime in 2012 and confessed to the killing. 

For Sirios, there's reasonable suspicion that the confession given by Hernandez was a false tale forced by police.

"I can tell you that it is complex and confusing when someone confesses to a crime they did not commit," Sirois told NBC. "People cannot imagine themselves doing this under any circumstances. But then you hear in court how the police obtained the confession from Mr.Hernandez and you can start to see how it is possible."

Sirois, as he did after the first trial, pointed to another suspect in the case. 

"There is no evidence that corroborates the confessions made by Mr. Hernandez or the various statements by the five witnesses who allege they heard Mr. Hernandez confess," Sirois wrote in an email. "The fact that there is another suspect in the case ... throws a lot of doubt into the picture."

And despite the guilty verdict, he has no regrets for being the only person from two juries to not vote to convict Hernandez. 

"In our legal system it does not matter how many people vote guilty," he told NBC. "If one person has reasonable doubt, that is all that is needed to protect a person's liberty."

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