Top Mass. court: Aaron Hernandez’s cell phone must be turned over to prosecutors
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Friday that authorities can examine the cell phone of Aaron Hernandez, the disgraced former New England Patriot already convicted of one murder and who faces further charges in an upcoming double murder trial.
Prosecutors believe the phone contains evidence that Hernandez shot his once-friend Alexander Bradley while the two were on vacation together in 2013.
Bradley has told investigators that he witnessed Hernandez shooting at a BMW in July 2012, when Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado were allegedly killed by Hernandez for bumping into him at a bar. Prosecutors believe Hernandez shot Bradley so he would not implicate him in the killing.
The SJC ruled that Hernandez’s defense no longer needs the cell phone for the provision of legal services to the former star tight end.
“[T]he continued retention of this device can only be understood as having the effect of concealing or removing it from the observation of others, namely the Commonwealth,” the ruling said.
The decision overturns lower-court action to deny prosecutors access to the phone, and allows officials to seize it upon obtaining a search warrant.
“The SJC’s decision is grounded in the law and in common sense,” Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said in a statement. “No court or legislature ever intended that critical evidence could be placed beyond the reach of investigators, in perpetuity, simply by providing it to an attorney. We have already begun the process of seeking a search warrant to obtain the phone for analysis by our Computer Crime Lab.”
Hernandez is serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of semiprofessional football player Odin Lloyd, which occurred nearly a year after the slaying of de Abreu and Furtado.
Hernandez originally turned the cell phone over to lawyers in 2013 “for the purpose of seeking legal advice on several matters,” ahead of his arrest in the Lloyd case, according to the SJC decision.
As of earlier this year, Hernandez is represented by Jose Baez, who famously defended Casey Antony under the national spotlight.
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