<p>I think the hand in the back of the room is Jodi Arias. :)</p>
<p>It’s O.J. 
</p>
<p>I agree…it could be OJ. I was confused by the crooked finger. :)</p>
<p>He wasn’t charged with kidnapping. In fact, the evidence released says the victim was in the car willingly. He texted from the car that he was with “NFL”, meaning Hernandez.</p>
<p>Prosecutors can charge any number of people with attempted or actual murder if they believe they all contributed, no matter who shot. A drive-by shooting is attempted murder or murder. Whether it’s first or second in MA depends on if they can charge the combination of “premeditation” and “malice aforethought”. Second degree murder is “malice aforethought”. That means intent to commit harm or doing something a reasonable person would believe would cause harm, like firing at a crowd would. A drive-by is one of those either/or situations of first or second. </p>
<p>Hernandez was rightly charged with first because the actions show premeditation. His texts show him organizing getting together with the victim. One reason to charge first is that the defense has to consider whether they’ll try to exculpate or try to reduce the charge by attacking the “premeditation” issue. The difference is life without parole versus parole after 15 years possibly. It makes the defense gamble: do I try to get him off and risk the next 60 years behind bars or do I try to get the result cut to second degree murder so he has a chance to get out. Remember, if he serves 20 years, he’d be in his early 40’s when released. This is a big strategy issue for the defense.</p>
<p>No, felony murder can apply to the drive-by shooting situation without the premeditation or malice aforethought being proven. If you’re involved in a serious felony (attempted murder, some assault charges) and another person dies as a result of the felony, it’s first degree murder, with the life sentence requirement (in Mass.). (Otherwise there would be no point to the felony murder possibility, if you have to prove the other kinds of first degree murder factors anyway). Though certainly the prosecutors have the discretion to charge both first or second, or just one. </p>
<p>They do have to prove the felony elements, however, that is true, and that is why I am surprised they haven’t pursued the obstruction or other charges (btw kidnapping can be alleged via a false imprisonment conduit - he got into the car willingly but then was held there against his will after a time). That way they have two different ways to go at him (which they still might depending on how the investigation proceeds, and if additional charges are filed – they can add charges at anytime). That’s why I wonder if the felony factors have to simply be proven, or does the actual felony have to be charged for felony murder cases.</p>
<p>But we agree that the Hernandez charge is first because it was allegedly premeditated, certainly according to the evidence the prosecutors have already made public. And that a smart defense move would be to try to have him pin it on another conspirator (“I did not plan it, I only wanted to scare him and was shocked when my “associate” shot him”).</p>
<p>If you’d asked me a week ago, ^^^ that is exactly what I would have guessed actually did happen. Now, though, I think it’s perfectly possible that Hernandez was the shooter. Will be very interesting to hear what these other witnesses reveal; I suspect one or both will turn on Hernandez - the CT guy looks petrified, and it was quite a surprise to me that the FL guy turned himself in.</p>
<p>"…it was quite a surprise to me that the FL guy turned himself in."</p>
<p>The only logical explanation is that all three plan to pin it on the Butler … or perhaps Bigfoot.</p>
<p>From Yahoo Sports:</p>
<p>Commissioner Roger Goodell’s tough player conduct policy was supposed to stop NFL players from getting in trouble … right? </p>
<p>Another day, another arrest for the NFL. This time it’s Colts safety Joe Lefeged, who the Indianapolis Star said was chased down by police and will be arraigned on multiple gun-related offenses.</p>
<p>Somewhere, Goodell and the rest of the NFL is praying this nightmare week ends. And they’ll probably be quite happy when the offseason as a whole is finished.</p>
<p>This week has included Aaron Hernandez getting charged with murder, Ausar Walcott being charged with attempted murder and Josh Brent failing a second drug test while out on bond on an intoxicated manslaughter charge. Now comes the Indianapolis Star news that Lefeged and a friend were driving in Washington, D.C., and when police attempted to pull over their car and a chase ensued. The men were arrested after the chase and a handgun was found in the car.</p>
<p>Lefeged and Timothy Wilson will be arraigned on charges of carrying a firearm without license, unregistered firearm, unregistered ammunition and presence of a firearm in a motor vehicle, the Star said. </p>
<p>Lefeged is entering his third season with the Colts, and last year he played in all 16 games, starting four. He also started a playoff loss to Baltimore.</p>
<p>Business Insider reported earlier this week that there have been 27 known instances of NFL players being arrested since the Super Bowl. The story was outdated almost immediately. Brent and Lefeged are the 28th and 29th known NFL player arrests this offseason.</p>
<p>^^ and an Eagles player suspecting of running another dog-fighting ring; dogs seized from his Wisconsin kennel. The whole NFL discussion is multi-layered, for sure.</p>
<p>The victim, Odin Lloyd, laid to rest today. :(</p>
<p>It looks like a lot of the players were arrested for alcohol and marijuana use. </p>
<p>[27</a> NFL Players Arrested Since 2013 Super Bowl - Business Insider](<a href=“http://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-players-arrested-2013-super-bowl-2013-6]27”>27 NFL Players Arrested Since 2013 Super Bowl)</p>
<p>This case just keeps getting weirder and weirder…</p>
<p>[Aaron</a> Hernandez family member killed in car accident | ProFootballTalk](<a href=“http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/02/aaron-hernandez-family-member-killed-in-car-accident/related/]Aaron”>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/02/aaron-hernandez-family-member-killed-in-car-accident/related/)</p>
<p>ESPN reporting Hernandez: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Arrested as a 17-yr old juvenile after punching a bar employee and puncturing his eardrum (following several drinks, at age 17) soon after arriving in Florida (he left high school in December and went to Florida to partipate in spring pre-season) - Tebow intervened supposedly.</p></li>
<li><p>Interviewed by Gainesville police after nightclub shooting in Oct. 2007, but would not talk without a lawyer; he was identified along with another Univ of Florida football player as walking up to a car and shooting men inside (he was described as the shooter), but witness later recanted saying “I didn’t identify Aaron Hernandez”… even though he had never mentioned a name previously, just said it was 2 Florida football players.</p></li>
<li><p>Admitted at scouting combine to failing multiple drug tests while in college.</p></li>
<li><p>Feb. 2013, allegedly shot acquaintance in the eye after an altercation in Florida.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Also cops were called for domestic violence dispute by a CA neighbor I believe last year sometime, but fiance dismissed it as just a verbal argument. And a college teammate says he has a horrible temper, has issues with being “disrespected,” and slugged a guy in a pizza place while a player at Florida (no report filed).</p>
<p>Embarrassing for the Patriots (although if they hadn’t taken him, another team would have, I’m sure). But c’mon, NFL, get your act together. Stop allowing guys to even be drafted with this kind of background. And collegiate sports, you need to get your **** together too. Where was the oversight?</p>
<p>Uh, except for the last, the problem is the University of Florida’s dedication to covering up for athletes in the name of winning. This is a huge problem across the nation. So the fault there lies with Urban Meyer and the entire NCAA football culture.</p>
<p>The car accident in the link that Jonri posted is even stranger than that link reports. The car hit not only a pole, but a Country Club. Evidently it was travelling at a very high rate of speed, flew through the pole and into the building at 3:30 am. I know the intersection well…it’s not one that you’d want to speed through…</p>
<p>[Man</a> Killed When Car Crashes Into Farmington Country Club - Hartford Courant](<a href=“http://articles.courant.com/2013-06-30/community/hc-farmington-crash-0701-20130630_1_man-killed-crashes-farmington-police]Man”>http://articles.courant.com/2013-06-30/community/hc-farmington-crash-0701-20130630_1_man-killed-crashes-farmington-police)</p>
<p>The man killed was scheduled to be interviewed by the police…</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-aaron-hernandez-thaddeas-singleton-20130702,0,2763989.story[/url]”>http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-aaron-hernandez-thaddeas-singleton-20130702,0,2763989.story</a></p>
<p>How about not admitting athletically talented but academically unqualified thugs into educational institutions in the first place? Then no one will have to worry about covering up for them.</p>
<p>All I know is I can’t believe these young millionaires tossing the whole world away on some of the stupidest stuff.</p>
<p>We don’t know that Hernandez didn’t have the acumen to be a successful college student. We do know that he demonstrated a frequent tendency for anti-social behavior, dating back to high school, if recent reports are to be believed.</p>
<p>UFlorida, like Penn State U, like Ohio State U, like U of Washington, apparently cleaned up multiple messes made football players. That’s no news. The big time football schools have been doing that for years and will continue to do so until the obscene amounts of financial incentives are removed from college football.</p>
<p>^^ couldn’t agree more LakeWashington - the dollars involved in college football are obscene, that’s a perfect word for it.</p>
<p>I agree that Urban Meyer bears some responsibility, but on the other hand, the early incidents (when he was 17 and just turned 18) are at least the only REPORTED incidents, and he managed to go at least a few more years prior to being drafted without major issues, except the pot smoking, which always seemed to come on the heels of returns home to Connecticut. That doesn’t mean that nothing occurred, just that nothing had been reported. That also doesn’t mean that the drug test failures were not serious and should have been dealt with via suspension (maybe they were), and probably at some point dismissal from the team after a certain number (though I thought I saw one report that Florida says he only failed just one drug test, but numerous other reports including apparently the combine self-report say it was multiple). {As an aside – doesn’t pot make you paranoid? :)}</p>
<p>In any case, there were missed signs for years. But perhaps Florida’s program thought they had it under control and were watching him, and that he had made progress. Who knows. I really don’t know how the NFL scouts can predict this kind of unbelievable ending when so many of these young guys come from these troubled backgrounds; who knows who will come out of it the other side and who will fail? But maybe zero tolerance really is the only answer. And it likely does start with an overhaul of the college programs.</p>
<p>The problems always seemed to stem from visits home to see old pals. There is a great article in this week’s SI about Maurice Clarett, a running back who led Ohio State to BCS title in 2002, but who flamed out and ended up in jail for almost 4 years, entering at age 21 or 22 for robbery and weapons charges. He is out and trying hard to turn his life around, and certainly has matured and takes responsibility for being an immature idiot. He gives speeches everywhere, including at the latest NFL rookie symposium, and he says this (from the SI article):</p>
<p>“I say it everytime I speak. Show me your friends, I’ll show you your future. I have a picture from 2002 with 15 guys from my neighborhood, hanging out in a nightclub, partying. Out of those 15 people, 10 of them have been in state or federal prison, including myself. Two of them are dead. You look at that photo and a lot of stuff makes sense.”</p>
<p>The similarities with the Hernandez case are compelling. The friends, the drugs, the guns. It does seem likely that drugs were somehow connected to this case, and apparently the cops are getting a lot of their evidence and narrative from one of the friends in the car (who I guess is not as loyal to Hernandez as he thought). It always goes back to the old neighborhood. Hernandez might have been a lot better off if he had been drafted by a west coast team, far far away from his CT affiliations.</p>
<p>College football is a plantation system in which the coaches make millions by paying the athletes nothing and glossing that over with amenities like special study labs, etc. as perks, with those perks generally coming at the expense of the rest of the student body. Consider the number of minorities and the low graduation rates at many schools - and that includes athletes who graduate in the easiest programs the school can put them in (with test and grade manipulation apparently occurring more than we want to believe). And add in that if you leave your school, you are now generally prohibited by the contract you signed from playing at any school within your state or even region. </p>
<p>I grew up a Big10 fan. I’ve noted in other threads that I watch professional sports but mostly ignore big time college sports because of the way it is run.</p>
<p>
While I agree there are problems, they don’t get nothing - they get a free college education, should they choose to take advantage of it. And many of them do, very few of them get drafted.</p>
<p>That is worth $100,000-$200,000+ depending on the school.</p>
<p>If they actually got educations … if they weren’t directed (and ordered) into easy classes with minimal requirements, etc. </p>
<p>But economically, it’s wrong to compare the cost of college with pay because the marginal expense of a student is not the same as what they charge. These students are more expensive - special dorms, dining halls, tutors, etc. - but that comes out of revenues they generate. Given how football subsidizes athletic budgets, these kids are part of a profit center.</p>