Veteran Manhattan prosecutor Joan Illuzzi may take part in the retrial of Pedro Hernandez, charged in the 1979 murder of Etan Patz, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge Maxwell Wiley denied a motion by Hernandez’s lawyers to bar Illuzzi, who left the DA’s Office after being the lead prosecutor in the first trial — which ended in a hung jury last spring — for an unsuccessful run for Staten Island district attorney.
Illuzzi has since returned to the Manhattan DA’s Office and was again assigned to the Hernandez case.
Defense attorney Harvey Fishbein had argued that Illuzzi should be barred from involvement in the retrial because she touted the high-profile case in her campaign.
Fishbein stated earlier, “She used the defendant for her own personal advances.”
In denying the motion, Wiley said that Illuzzi’s remarks wouldn’t prejudice potential jurors.
“Ms. Illuzzi’s statements, made months ago to local (and in some cases, Staten Island-only) outlets, are unlikely to be remembered or considered significant by prospective New York County jurors — even those who remember the publicity given to the mistrial in May 2015,” Wiley wrote.
He added that the court would be diligent when choosing jurors to ensure they are “free of prejudice based on that publicity.”