They definitely need to proceed with the other trial. The life sentence he received in this case triggers an automatic appeal.
An interesting side story locally is that just before announcing the verdict, the judge took the jurors into chambers and told them about some of the evidence against Hernandez that was not admissible during the trial, to help them feel secure that they made the right call. Does this happen often???
One juror told the press that what really swayed them was when Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots, testified that Hernandez told him he wished the time of death was made public so he could use his alibi of being in a night club. If the time of death was not public, how would Hernandez know his alibi would work? As a result, I think, the defense had to admit he was at the killing, but was a terrified bystander. Didn’t work, obviously.
“just before announcing the verdict, the judge took the jurors into chambers and told them about some of the evidence against Hernandez that was not admissible during the trial, to help them feel secure that they made the right call. Does this happen often???”
Just before the verdict, really? Are you sure it was before the verdict?
I was on a federal jury and the judge told us what he would have ruled after we gave the verdict. It was a weird, complicated case and he was interested in what we thought and why and shared with us his thoughts. Much appreciated by the way and we were glad he told us exactly how awful the guy we convicted really was.
As to Hernandez, NFL teams pass on players for many behavioral issues. E.g., Randy Moss and a host of other HoF types. And then some pick morons like Ryan Leaf and spend megadollars on the Albert Haynesworths of this world after they’ve shown who they are in the NFL.
I wondered at the defense strategy. They contested evidence and then announced in closing arguments that he’d been at the murder, which made everyone wonder: why did you contest all that evidence? A key was Robert Kraft’s testimony that Hernandez said he didn’t do it because he was in a club when Lloyd died. Jurors have said no one knows when that happened so how could Hernandez? I think that was one piece of the puzzle, not the determining one because it’s just a statement.
I think the judge talked to the jurors “informally” after the announcement of the verdict and before the sentencing. It might have been when she explained some of the evidence that had so clearly been withheld from them during the trial.
The two biggest fools are the two idiots who helped Hernandez kill the guy. Neither of them had sense enough to cope a deal in exchange for testifying against Hernandez. I hope they enjoyed the part of the trial where Hernandez blamed it all on them. Now, it’s too late. Snooze ya lose, I guess.
And Hernandez’ “dame” still can’t remember where she took the murder weapon to a dumpster… If there was ever anyone who should be tried as an accessory, it’s her. As I understand it, her immunity deal only included things she testified truthfully about at the trial, of which there was very little after she stated her name.
From the Globe story about the jury: they said the big moments included a 22 found near Lloyd - not the murder weapon - that was bought for Hernandez in FL and that they couldn’t agree on premeditation but found instead the 6 shots met the 1st degree standard in MA of atrocity and cruelty.
They spent days and days, with witness after witness, testifying about that 22 found when they were searching the roadsides for the murder weapon in the Lloyd murder. The 22 handgun had nothing to do with Odin Lloyd and was surely one of the things that made no sense to the jury.
I’m pretty sure that gun will turn out to be the murder weapon in the double-homicide drive by shooting in Boston.
I think a lot of the prosecution’s evidence was intended to tie this murder trial to things the jurors had obviously heard about in the media, but about which they could not hear direct evidence. The 22 is one example. Having the guy Hernandez shot in the face testify about other stuff was another. The jurors had to figure out who he was, especially when the prosecution kept posing questions like, “Now, without saying what happened on Feb 13th, when was the last time you saw Aaron Hernandez…” Or, “Now, without saying what happened on Feb 13th, did you fly back to Boston from Florida with Aaron Hernandez…”
In some comments I read after an article, several people said that the fiancee’s “sobbing” with the mother was particularly lacking in actual tears. I didn’t look closely enough to tell, but she definitely doesn’t seem on the level.
She should be happy that the serial killer can’t get out of prison and kill HER for knowing too much. So far, the known count is that he’s shot two friends and a couple of guys who bumped into him in a bar and spilled his drink. I can’t imagine he would have much more hesitation to use a Glock on a girlfriend.
She’s probably working on a book deal. Fiction, of course… And, of course, still living in the McMansion… although I can’t imagine that free ride will continue much longer as lawyers and victims start wanting their money.
The shame of our legal system is that his lawyers will get the money. The victims, like Lloyd’s family, the two kids gunned down in Boston, and the friend who got shot in the face, will win their civil suits, but probably end up with nothing.
I watched a few witness in the trial. There wasn’t one day of that trial where the participants’ goal (including the judge) was to find the truth. It was shocking how much information was withheld from the jury and the almost surreal way they were forced to question witnesses.
BTW,. the biggest disappointment in Boston sports circles is that we didn’t get the pleasure of seeing Bill Belichick on the stand. Between his disdain for answering questions and his impatience with petty bureaucratic rules, that might have been comedy gold. There were already over/under proposition bets on how many times he would snort into the microphone… 
It’s good that they did withhold information though, as having them consider anything that might be inadmissible would be grounds for appeal.
Yeah. Good luck finding something to stick on appeal with the way this judge ran the trial. There were rumblings before the trial that she had a pre-existing beef with this prosecutor. Whatever the motivation, she made him try the case with one hand tied behind his back.
I think they actually tried the cases in the wrong order. The Boston trial really should have come first. Weapon, vehicle, and at least one eye-witness in Hernandez car. That one is a slam dunk. The trial that just ended certainly had enough wiggle-room for an OJ jury to acquit (no witness, no murder weapon, no motive, “rush to judgement” by an all-white police department, etc)…
On the other hand, the prosecution may have had a more favorable jury pool in the suburban county than in Boston. I might not have been so pessimistic about a conviction if I had seen how “favorable” the jury makeup was before the trial.
Goodell has weighed in with this tweet:
And I would note the Deflate-gate investigation started BEFORE jury selection in the Hernandez murder trial and is STILL going on.
It took them more than two months to resolve the Falcons’ crowd noise scandal, and the Falcons basically pled guilty.
I’m figuring June…
Many of Hernandez’ ex-teammates don’t agree with the verdict.
http://www.dailydot.com/sports/brandon-spikes-aaron-hernandez-guilty/
Hey, the draft is coming up. Are there a couple of potential felons on the board? That is more interesting than debating guys like Hernandez!
Yep - and Winston is getting sued in civil court now.