NEW YORK – A New York City judge is considering whether bags of potatoes can be used as evidence in the trial of a man accused of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz (AY'-tahn payts) in 1979.
Pedro Hernandez confessed to police that he choked Etan in a convenience store basement. His lawyer has said Hernandez is mentally ill and falsely confessed.
Hernandez says he put the boy's body in a box and walked a block with it.
His defense suggests that Hernandez was scrawny and couldn't have carried a heavy box that far. They're asking to bring in 50 pounds of potatoes and a produce box for jurors.
Prosecutors say Etan weighed far less, and the method isn't scientific.
The judge says he'll decide Thursday.
Etan's disappearance helped galvanize the modern-day missing-children's movement. .
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