Supreme Court reinstates murder conviction in case of Etan Patz, missing New York City boy

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9. Who should be deciding?

In New York, a jury decides the verdict but the trial court judge decides the sentence. In this case, the defendant appealed the New York state trial court decision to the next higher New York state court and after they upheld the decision, he appealed to the highest level New York court and was turned down. He then tried the US Supreme Court and, in 2021, that Court, with no noted dissents, denied his petition for certiorari. He then went back to federal district court with his habeas petition, which was denied by a Clinton-appointed judge, but that decision was reversed by a three judge panel of the Second Circuit, which ordered the case returned to New York for a potential retrial. The Supremes reversed that decision, reinstating the Clinton judge's previous denial.

My question: along this winding road, who should have the final say over the sentence imposed on a defendant.