Immediately after state Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley's mistrial ruling, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon requested a second trial for Hernandez.
The decision came after the jury, in its 18th day of deliberations at the court in Manhattan, told the judge for a third time that it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. On two previous occasions during the 10-week trial, Wiley ordered the panel to resume deliberations.
Eleven jury members were in favor of conviction, jurors said at a media briefing. Only one held out for acquittal.
Patz vanished on May 25, 1979 as he walked alone for the first time to a school bus stop in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan.