A Manhattan judge has reversed a $2.7 million civil judgment that said convicted child molester Jose Ramos killed 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979, according to the New York Post.
That decision effectively clears Ramos of any wrongdoing.
He was a longtime suspect in the case until Pedro Hernandez was charged with Etan's murder.
The civil judgment against Ramos was used as part of Hernandez' defense in his first trial, which ended in a hung jury.
Etan's parents had asked for the civil case to be thrown out so Hernandez can't use it again when his second trial begins next month.
Etan Patz went missing while walking alone to a bus stop in SoHo in 1979.
His body has never been found.