Latest in Aaron Hernandez: Defense Rests After Just Three Witnesses
Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is in court as he faces a charge of murder for the killing of 26-year-old Odin Lloyd in June 2013. We’ll be updating this page with important highlights as his trial progresses.
April 6: After just three witnesses, the defense rests their case
It took prosecutors in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial two months and 131 witnesses to present their argument against the former New England Patriot. After calling just three witnesses for not even a full day of testimony Monday, Hernandez’s defense team rested their case.
The first witness Hernandez’s lawyers called was Dr. David Greenblatt, a Tufts Medical School professor of pharmacology, who the defense hired to testify on the behavioral effects of PCP.
Hernandez’s cousin Jennifer Mercado previously testified she saw co-defendants Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace smoking the drug previous to the murder. However, Greenblatt said he couldn’t tell if they were showing any symptoms of being on PCP from surveillance footage shown from the night of the murder.
It’s the defense’s theory that Ortiz killed Odin Lloyd in a PCP-induced psychosis June 17, 2013. Judge E. Susan Garsh ruled Greenblatt could not speculate on the whether Ortiz or Wallace were on PCP at the time of the murder, only speak on the general behavioral effects of the drug.
Greenblatt testified that PCP use can cause psychosis — similar in appearance to the symptoms of schizophrenia — which can include hallucinations, paranoia, and violent or aggressive behavior. He also said that the effects of PCP can appear intermittently and unpredictably.
During cross-examination, prosecutors showed home security footage of Hernandez, Ortiz and Wallace appearing calm in the hours surrounding the murder. Greenblatt admitted he couldn’t tell if any of them showed signs of PCP use. Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg also pointed out that Greenblatt didn’t have any clinical interactions with PCP patients. Greenblatt said he couldn’t remember, but he might have treated a PCP patient in the 1970s.
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The second witness called by the defense was Eric Carita, a forensic consultant who swabbed the blue bubble gum that was found on a shell casing recovered from Hernandez’s rented Nissan Altima.
Hernandez’s DNA was found on the .45-caliber shell casing, the same caliber of weapon said to have killed Lloyd. The defense has argued the sample could have been transferred from the gum, which Hernandez was seen purchasing from a gas station the night of the murder.
Carita swabbed the gum and sent it to a Texas lab for testing, where it was found to match Hernandez’s DNA. Jennifer Smith, the defense’s third witness and the Texas forensic analyst who performed the test, provided charts confirming that DNA sample from the gum matched DNA samples from Hernandez provided by the Massachusetts State Police.
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Smith also confirmed that DNA can be transferred from one object to another and then again on to a third surface, also known as “secondary transfer.’’ She said it was “extremely likely’’ DNA on the gum could be transferred to the shell casing.
After the defense rested, prosecutors called Dr. Martin Brecher, a psychiatrist who authored a 1988 article on the effects of PCP, as a rebuttal witness to Greenblatt’s testimony. Brecher said there were only three documented cases where PCP was the sole cause of violence. The belief that PCP induced violent behavior was false, he said.
Closing arguments are set to begin Tuesday morning.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
April 2: Proseuction rests after testimony from Odin Lloyd’s medical examiner.
The prosecution rested their case against Aaron Hernandez on Thursday, ending a two-month long series of testimony from 131 witnesses.
Dr. William Zane, the medical examiner who performed Lloyd’s autopsy, said Lloyd was shot five times. According to Zane, the second bullet punctured Lloyd’s heart, which he said would have been fatal in “seconds to minutes.’’
He said two other gunshot wounds Lloyd suffered also would have been fatal, and that Lloyd died from injuries to the heart, lungs, liver and kidney. After hearing the wounds described, jurors also viewed graphic autopsy photos, and then Zane placed stickers on a mannequin in court to mark each entrance and exit wound.
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Much of Lloyd’s family was present during Zane’s testimony, with the exception of his mother, Ursula Ward.
Hernandez’s defense attorneys have said they expect to only need next Monday to make their case.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
April 1: Former best friend says he saw Hernandez with semi-automatic Glock
Aaron Hernandez’s former best friend took the stand Wednesday to testify against the former New England Patriots player.
Alexander Bradley, who said Hernandez had asked him to be the godfather of his child, said he saw Hernandez with what looked like a semi-automatic Glock pistol in Florida and that Hernandez kept a gun, marijuana, and cash in a basement safe at home.
Bradley is currently suing Hernandez for a 2013 shooting, in which Bradley says Hernandez shot him in the face and left him for dead after an argument at a Miami strip club. However, Judge E. Susan Garsh previously barred any mention in court of the incident and warned Bradley before his testimony he would be held in contempt of court if he said anything about it.
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Bradley testified he traveled with Hernandez to West Palm Beach in 2013. There he said he saw Hernandez in a hotel room holding what he identified as a semi-automatic Glock pistol. According to police, Odin Lloyd was killed with a .45-caliber Glock pistol.
Bradley also said he saw Oscar Hernandez — who prosecutors say Hernandez paid to ship guns from Florida to his North Attleboro home — in the hotel room at the time Hernandez had the alleged Glock.
Additionally, Bradley said on multiple occasions he saw an 8 to 9 inch, silver-gray gun, along with marijuana and cash, in a box in Hernandez’s basement closet. However, he said the gun was dissimilar to the .22-caliber handgun found in the woods near Hernandez’s home and, upon questioning by the defense, identified the box as a safe.
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Bradley said he became Hernandez’s good friend after initially selling him marijuana. He testified Hernandez “chain-smoked’’ marijuana and sometimes would go through an ounce a day.
He also recalled seeing Lloyd with his girlfriend (and sister of Hernandez’s fiancee) Shaneah Jenkins at Hernandez’s home. When Lloyd didn’t say hello in passing, Bradley remembered Hernandez remarking how he thought Lloyd had acted rudely. Bradley also said Hernandez had a hard time trusting others.
In Bradley’s cross-examination, the defense worked to discredit him as a witness. Bradley admitted he hadn’t mentioned seeing Hernandez with a Glock in Florida to a grand jury in 2013. Confronted with transcripts showing that he stated he never supplied Hernandez with marijuana, Bradley said he “absolutely’’ did not remember saying that and suggested the transcriber had made a mistake.
Hernandez’s lawyer also went through a lengthy list of pending criminal charges against Bradley, including assault, burglary, reckless endangerment, and various gun charges.
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The prosecution is expected to rest their case tomorrow morning.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 31: Patriots director of security said Hernandez “swore on his baby’s life’’ he was innocent; prosecutors to rest case Thursday
New England Patriots director of security Mark Briggs testified Tuesday that Aaron Hernandez “swore on his baby’s life he was telling the truth’’ that he was innocent. Briggs said he met with Hernandez for a one-on-one conversation on June 20, 2013, after police began investigating him in Odin Lloyd’s murder.
According to Briggs, Hernandez told him he was not involved in the killing. Briggs asked him to leave Gillette Stadium, in the midst of the heightened police and media attention, because it was “bad for business.’’ Hernandez fully cooperated with the request, said Briggs.
Earlier Monday, Patriots owner Robert Kraft testified in a surprise court appearance. Kraft said Hernandez looked him in the eye and said he was innocent.
“I understood there was an incident that had transpired and I wanted to know whether he was involved,’’ Kraft said. “He said he was innocent.’’
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According to Kraft, Hernandez told him that he hoped the time of the murder would become public because he was at a club at the time. However, surveillance footage from night of the murder showed Hernandez at his North Attleboro home at midnight, at a Canton gas station around 2 a.m. and back at his house around 3:30 a.m. Prosecutors say Odin Lloyd was killed around 3:25 a.m. at a nearby industrial park.
Lloyd’s former friend, Darryl Hodge, testified he was hanging out with Lloyd on June 16, 2013, hours before he was killed. He said Lloyd began receiving texts around 8:30 p.m., including one from a “distinct name’’ around 9 p.m. According to Hodge, Lloyd said he might go out with Hernandez that night.
Jurors also heard testimony from Robert Paradis, a former friend who went to high school with Hernandez and also accompanied him on an April 2013 trip to Los Angeles. Paradis testified he and Hernandez met co-defendant Ernest Wallace in Los Angeles, and that Hernandez used his phone to make a call to Florida.
A review of phone records showed the April 27 call was to a number — which Paradis said he didn’t recognize — that matched Gladwyn Skeete, the mother of the man who allegedly shipped guns from Florida to Aaron Hernandez’s home.
Last to take the stand Tuesday was Massachusetts state trooper Chris Dumont. He was tasked with going over the route Hernandez and associates allegedly took from Lloyd’s home to the industrial park where the body was found.
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Prosecutors said they plan to rest their case by Thursday. They told the judge they plan to call three more witnesses, including Alexander Bradley, a former associate of Hernandez. Bradley has filed a civil suit alleging that Hernandez shot him in the face and left him for dead after an argument in a Miami strip club. However, Judge E. Susan Garsh has banned any mention of the alleged incident in the case. Bradley is expected to testify that he had seen Hernandez with guns.
Hernandez’s lawyer James Sultan asked they be able to call their first — and apparently only — witness on Monday.
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– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 30, Afternoon: Fiancee thought box Hernandez told her to get rid of contained marijuana; prosecutors say it held murder weapon
Aaron Hernandez’s fiancee said Monday afternoon she thought the box she disposed of, which prosecutors contend had the murder weapon, contained marijuana. Earlier Monday, Jenkins testified that Hernandez told her one day after Odin Lloyd’s body was discovered to remove the box from their basement.
During Jenkins’ cross-examination, Hernandez’s lawyer Charles Rankin asked if she smelled anything on the box she took from the basement. Jenkins replied that she recognized the smell of marijuana, the first time she had mentioned so in court. She had previously testified she estimated the box weighed 35 to 40 pounds.
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Jenkins was also asked by the defense to clarify statements she made recalling her discovery of a gun in the kitchen junk drawer sometime before Lloyd’s death. In her 2013 grand jury testimony, Jenkins said she had a conversation with Hernandez about the gun, but in her testimony Friday she recalled only giving him “a look.’’
Jenkins testified that though Hernandez and Lloyd “weren’t best friends,’’ they would hang out, smoke marijuana, and play pool together in Hernandez’s basement. She said that co-defendant Ernest Wallace would sometimes stay over at the couple’s house in their guestroom basement, but she had never seen Carlos Ortiz — also a co-defendant — before the time of the murder.
Rankin also had Jenkins describe her relationship with Hernandez growing up. She described their relationship as “on-and-off’’ since high school and said she decided to “tolerate’’ Hernandez’s infidelity and drug use, hoping that he would grow out of it.
“He’s a grown man. I can’t tell a grown man what to do,’’ Jenkins said. However, she did say she put her foot down when she found the gun and that she never saw it in the house again. They were set to get married on April 12, 2014.
After Jenkins’ testimony concluded — after nearly nine hours — FBI agent Eric Perry returned to confirm the prosecution’s timeline of the night of the murder, using cell phone tower location data.
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The records confirmed the last text sent from Lloyd’s phone, pinned to a cell tower near the industrial park where his body was found, occurred at 3:23 a.m. June 17, 2013. The location data was presented in concert with surveillance footage from the park which appeared to show car headlights in the distant background. Prosecutors say he was killed minutes later.
Video from Hernandez’s driveway showed Hernandez, Wallace, and Ortiz returning home at 3:30 a.m.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 30, Morning: Jenkins testifies that Hernandez told her to dispose box that prosecutors say contained murder weapon
Aaron Hernandez’s fiancee testified Monday morning that the former New England Patriot told her to get rid of a cardboard box, which prosecutors say contained the murder weapon.
Shayanna Jenkins said that Hernandez told her over the phone to remove the box — which she estimated weighed 35-40 pounds — from a storage room in their basement on June 18, 2013, the day after Odin Lloyd’s body was found in a nearby North Attleboro industrial park.
Jenkins said there were multiple gift-sized boxes inside the larger box and that she couldn’t tell what was inside. She said she covered the box with baby clothes and put it in a trash bag. Surveillance video showed her carrying it out the back door of their house and putting the box in her car.
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Jenkins said she drove through North Attleboro, Plainville and Foxboro looking for a dumpster. Eventually, she said she disposed of the box in a “random’’ dumpster in a residential area, but couldn’t call specifically where it was. Pressed on why she couldn’t remember where the dumpster was by prosecutor William McCauley, Jenkins attributed it to the emotional weight of the moment.
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Surveillance video also showed Jenkins withdrawing $800 from an ATM while she was out to get rid of the box, but she also couldn’t remember what the money was for. Video from the couple’s home showed Jenkins returning with the baby clothes and trash bag, but without the box.
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Jenkins did recall asking Hernandez — the morning of June 18, after she learned Lloyd had been killed — whether he committed the murder. “He said no,’’ Jenkins said.
After first taking the stand Friday morning, Jenkins’ questioning by prosecutors concluded around 11:40 a.m. Monday. The defense began their cross-examination immediately after.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 26: Bomb threat interrupts trial, as court views surveillance video of Hernandez allegedly driving Lloyd the night of the murder
A bomb threat interrupted the Aaron Hernandez murder trial Thursday, as the Fall River courthouse was evacuated and testimony was suspended just after noon. According to a Bristol Superior Court official, the threat was cleared around 1 p.m. and testimony resumed as normal at 2 p.m. Judge E. Susan Garsh said there was “absolutely no reason to believe’’ the threat was related to the Hernandez case.
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In the actual courtroom proceedings Thursday, surveillance video showed Odin Lloyd getting into what police say was Aaron Hernandez’s rented Nissan Altima in front of his home in Dorchester. Prosecutors presented multiple videos showing Hernandez allegedly driving Lloyd southbound out of Boston.
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A Bank of America employee also testified regarding Hernandez and fiancee Shayanna Jenkins’s bank transactions. Prosecutors showed images of checks Jenkins wrote to pay housekeepers, including one on June 18, 2013, the day after the murder.
This contradicts Jenkins’ supposed story that she needed to borrow her sister’s car to take out cash to pay housekeepers. Prosecutors think Jenkins was actually disposing of evidence instead, including the murder weapon.
The Associated Press reported Thursday afternoon that Jenkins will be called by the prosecution to testify Friday. She has not been in attendance for the trial since March 6.
Earlier in the day, testimony from Hernandez’s cousin, Jennifer Mercado, continued as prosecutors attempted to refute her statements that co-defendants Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace were acting crazy and high on PCP during the time of the murder.
They showed video of Ortiz and Wallace in Hernandez’s home before and after the murder, including Wallace holding Hernandez’s child.
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Mercado admitted they did not appear to be acting crazy or erratic. Prosecutors also pointed out inconsistencies between Mercado’s grand jury testimony and what she had said in court this week. Mercado had testified this week that she saw signs that Ortiz and Wallace smoked PCP before the murder, despite telling a grand jury in 2013 she couldn’t tell. The prosecution suggested that Mercado has been purposefully copying the defense’s arguments.
A soil analyst also testified Thursday that soil found under the wheel well of the rented Nissan Altima police say Hernandez drove Lloyd in did not match soil found at the murder scene. A win for the defense’s case, prosecutors introduced the testimony in a preemptive concession.
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A FBI agent began to testify regarding cell phone tracking data, starting with Hernandez’s cell phone activity and location hours before the murder. However, Garsh halted testimony after Hernandez’s lawyers objected to modifications (a red arrow pointing to the South Street Cafe) made to the map which had no relation with cell phone tower locations. Garsh adjourned court for the day so the arrow and any other modification could be removed before testimony resumes Friday morning.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 25: (UPDATED MARCH 26) Judge will admit “some’’ of Hernandez’s conversations from prison, in which prosecutors allege he directed cover-up
Update: According to NBC 10 reporter Adam Bagni, Judge Garsh ruled Thursday morning that parts of conversations from jail between Hernandez and associates will be admissible in trial. One notable exception is the conversation between co-defendant Ernest Wallace and Tanya Singleton, in which Wallace said he wouldn’t “la la’’ to police. According to WCVB’s Liam Martin, the conversation will not be admissable on the grounds of hearsay.
Judge E. Susan Garsh said she will admit “some’’ of Aaron Hernandez’s recorded prison conversations, after hearing lawyers debate with no jury present in court Wednesday morning.
Prosecutors argued the conversation’s indicate that Hernandez was directing a conspiracy among associates to cover up the murder; but Hernandez’s lawyers say the conversations were irrelevant and would cause the jury to speculate.
The conversations include co-defendant Ernest Wallace allegedly telling Hernandez’s cousin Tanya Singleton he won’t talk, as well as Hernandez planning a trust fund for Singleton’s children.
“The Commonwealth’s imagination has run amok,’’ said defense lawyer Michael Fee.
Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg responded, “It’s pretty obvious, your honor, what they’re talking about.’’
In one conversation, Wallace told Singleton “don’t think I’m la la la-ing.’’ He also asked her to tell Hernandez that he “won’t go against the grain’’ and “we got to work together.’’
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Prosecutors also seeked to introduce transcripts in which Hernandez told Singleton — who has terminal breast cancer — he would set up a trust fund for her two children. Hernandez said he would invest $75,000 to $100,000 for each of her children, but has yet to set up such a fund.
Singleton was convicted of contempt of court for refusing to testify to a grand jury and was sentenced to two years of confinement. Prosecutors suggested the promised money was a payoff for Singleton’s silence, while Hernandez’s lawyers said it was generous support to a close relative.
Another cousin of Hernandez, Jennifer Mercado, testified Tuesday that Hernandez was like a “substitute father’’ to Singleton’s children, after Singleton’s husband had an affair with Hernandez’s mother.
Hernandez also asked his fiancee Shayanna Jenkins to fill Singleton’s canteen (money individuals can use to buy products from a store in prison), but Jenkins resisted because she said it went against her lawyer’s directions. Hernandez later told Mercado to send money from him to Singleton and prosecutors say the money was ultimately provided.
On Wednesday, Garsh also said she will hold a voir dire hearing for Alexander Bradley, who alleges Aaron Hernandez shot him in the face in 2013, to test his competency as a witness before testifying in front of a jury.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 24: Co-defendants were high on PCP before murder, according to Hernandez’s cousin
Aaron Hernandez’s cousin Jennifer Mercado told lawyers Tuesday that she witnessed co-defendants Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace smoking PCP during the spring of 2013, and that the two showed signs of being high on the drug the night of the murder.
Mercado, who had been granted immunity, frustrated prosecutors and reinforced the defense team’s story that Ortiz and Wallace murdered Odin Lloyd while they were high on PCP, also known as angel dust.
Mercado testified Ortiz and Wallace would act crazy, erratic, and jittery, and would sweat profusely when they used the drug. She also said Ortiz would use a towel to wipe the sweat from his face when high.
Mercado said the two showed those signs when they left her home in Bristol, Connecticut, for North Attleborough on June 16, 2013. She said Wallace regularly stayed at her house in Bristol. Lloyd’s body was found the next day in a North Attleborough industrial park, along with a white towel Ortiz was allegedly seen wearing the night of the killing.
Prosecutor William McCauley grew increasingly frustrated that, though Mercado said she couldn’t remember many details of her actions following the murder — including conversations with Hernandez — she was able to recall particular details from that spring regarding Ortiz and Wallace.
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McCauley showed surveillance video of Ortiz and Wallace arriving at Hernandez’s home shortly after 12 a.m. the night of the murder, before Hernandez and his fiancee returned from Providence. Ortiz and Wallace are seen getting out of the car, walking around in the driveway and changing clothes — seemingly tranquil — in an effort to rebuke Mercado’s testimony.
However, Mercado said the behavior — walking back and forth, changing clothes — was consistent with the “jittery’’ behavior she had witnessed when they were previously high on PCP. In Mercado’s 2013 grand jury testimony, she said she had only heard of Ortiz and Wallace using PCP, but never actually witnessed them smoking it. McCauley suggested Mercado was purposefully echoing the defense’s argument.
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When McCauley asked Mercado if her previous statements to the grand jury were accurate, in light of her current testimony, she replied, “I guess not.’’
According to Mercado, Ortiz and Wallace also used cocaine and marijuana, in addition to PCP, which she could discern by it’s “plastic’’ scent.
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She testified that though she knew Hernandez — who she said she helped raise after his father’s death in 2006 — smoked marijuana, she did not know of him smoking PCP.
During the defense’s cross-examination, Mercado illustrated Hernandez’s family history. She was a team mom for Hernandez’s football team and, along with his other cousin Tanya Singleton, helped raise him after his father died in 2006.
Singleton pleaded guilty to contempt of court last fall and is currently battling terminal breast cancer. She is serving two years of home confinement after refusing to testify before a grand jury in the investigation of a 2012 double murder for which Hernandez is also charged.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 23 Afternoon: Car allegedly containing guns shipped to Hernandez’s home weeks before murder
Documents shown in court Monday confirmed that Oscar Hernandez had a Toyota Camry shipped from Florida to Aaron Hernandez’s address in North Attleborough in late April of 2013. Prosecutors say that Aaron Hernandez paid Oscar Hernandez $15,000 to send him two .22-caliber guns and a rifle, which was found in the former Patriot’s garage, in the back of a 1998 Toyota Camry.
A South Florida car transport company employee provided documents that said Oscar Hernandez paid $895 to have the car sent to Shayanna Jenkins at the couple’s address.
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During a brief morning recess, Judge E. Susan Garsh granted immunity during a closed door hearing to an associate of Oscar Hernandez, Gion Jackson, who bought the .22-caliber gun found near Aaron Hernandez’s home.
Jackson said he saw Oscar Hernandez, who he loosely called a friend, at the True Value store where he purchased the gun. A store employee corroborated seeing Oscar Hernandez in the store when Jackson made the purchase.
After buying the gun — for personal protection, he testified — Jackson said he put it in the trunk of his car.
However, after loaning his car to Oscar Hernandez, among others, Jackson said he never saw the gun again and didn’t notice it was gone, until officials alerted him it was found off a road in North Attleborough about a mile from Hernandez’s home shortly after Lloyd’s murder.
Jackson said he hasn’t talked to Oscar Hernandez in the two years since the murder. Oscar Hernandez is currently in federal custody awaiting sentencing on charges including gun trafficking conspiracy, after he admitted shipping two .22-caliber handguns and a rifle from Florida to Massachusetts.
The weapon used to kill Lloyd, which police say is a .45-Glock, has never been recovered.
Another man, Kumar Singh, testified today that he bought and sold the Camry to Oscar Hernandez, which was allegedly used to ship the three guns to Hernandez. Singh said Oscar Hernandez, who also goes by “Papoo,’’ said he bought the car for a friend in college.
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Police found a Toyota Camry, which Singh identified as the one he sold, in Aaron Hernandez’s garage with the rifle shipped by Oscar Hernandez in the backseat.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 23 Morning: Hernandez sent $15,000 before murder to a friend police say shipped guns to the former Patriot
Bank of America employee Heidi Carrera testified that Aaron Herandez deposited $15,000 into the account of Oscar Hernandez (unrelated) on April 11, 2013. Police say Aaron Hernandez paid Oscar Hernandez to have weapons sent to the former New England Patriot player’s home.
In January, Oscar Hernandez pleaded guilty to gun trafficking conspiracy charges and admitted to shipping several guns from Florida to Massachusetts, including a .22-caliber handgun and a rifle.
Police say Oscar Hernandez shipped the three guns in the back of a Toyota Camry, which was discovered in Aaron Hernandez’s garage with the rifle in the backseat during the Odin Lloyd murder investigation. One of the .22-caliber handguns was found in the woods off a road near Aaron Hernandez’s home. Police say it was ditched there.
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Oscar Hernandez also had pleaded guilty to three counts of lying to a federal grand jury, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
Aaron Hernandez’s lawyer Charles Rankin suggested the $15,000 was sent to help his friend, who also attended college in Gainesville, Florida, after Oscar Hernandez had blown through $108,000 he inherited during the time he was in college.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 19: Witness says Hernandez danced aggresively with her, appeared agitated two nights before murder
Kasey Arma — a Revere resident and club promoter — said she went out to the Boston nightclub Rumor on Friday night, June 14, 2013. Around 1 a.m., she said Aaron Hernandez tapped her on the hip, introducing himself as “Rock.’’
Arna said Hernandez, though charming at first, later returned acting “very aggressive’’ and “agitated.’’
Arma said Hernandez asked her to dance and was initially “pleasant’’ and “charming,’’ but after briefly leaving, Hernandez returned seemingly agitated. She said Hernandez “pulled her by the arm out of the crowd and told her to go with him.’’
Upon dancing with her the second time, Arma said Hernandez was “very aggressive’’ and “kind of arrogant.’’
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Another witness previously testified seeing Hernandez that night staring angrily at murder victim Odin Lloyd before storming out of the club.
The prosecution also showed home surveillance footage of Hernandez and co-defendants Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace together the day following the murder. Showing the three together just hours after the murder was an attempt to reinforce investigators’ joint venture theory: that Hernandez, Ortiz and Wallace conspired to kill Lloyd. Hernandez’s lawyers have suggested Ortiz killed Lloyd and that the former Patriot had no involvement.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 18 Afternoon: Footprints found at murder scene match shoes Hernandez wore, according to police
Footprints found near Odin Lloyd’s body in a North Attleborough industrial park match the sneakers Aaron Hernandez wore on the night of the murder, according to police.
Despite never obtaining the specific shoes police say Hernandez were wearing that night, Massachusetts state trooper Steven Bennett’s continued testimony painstakingly accounted for all the other footprints at the scene and matched them to what investigators, witnesses and co-defendants were said to be wearing.
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Bennett’s testimony built up to his opinion that the prints were similar in manufacturing, design and physical size to the Air Jordan Retro 11 Lows in size 13.
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When investigators searched Hernandez’s house in November of 2014, Bennett said they weren’t able to find that particular brand of shoes.
Hernandez’s lawyer James Sultan began his cross-examination of Bennett with his usual one-two punch: accuse confirmation bias, then attack witness credibility. After suggesting that footprint comparisons were subjective, which Bennett rebuked, Sultan mentioned that Bennett had only taken a three-day class on footprint analysis and confirmed that Bennett was not certified by the International Association of Identification (IAI) as a footwear examiner (though he is a member of the IAI).
Sultan also asked why Bennett initially stated the footprint “lacked sufficient quality’’ in a report presented to the lead investigator in November of last year. Bennett stated at that time he did not have a model with which to analyze the print, but changed his opinion once he attained a shoe with the same sole to make a comparison. Sultan suggested the lead investigator had pressured Bennett to make an observation.
The defense also filed a motion Wednesday afternoon to suppress recorded jail conversations between Hernandez and his fiancee, cousins and Miami Dolphin offensive lineman and former University of Florida teammate Mike Pouncey.
According to the Hartford Courant’s Jenny Wilson, the transcripts include a discussion in which Hernandez learns a cousin is being held in contempt of court and another regarding a public display of support Pouncey made.
Additionally, the Associated Press reports that Lloyd’s family confronted a courtroom security guard Wednesday, after he let Hernandez’s mother kiss her son during a morning break on Tuesday. Lloyd’s family told the officer they no longer have a son to kiss.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 18 Morning: Police say vague security video shows Hernandez’s car near murder scene at time of the killing
Jurors viewed security camera footage Wednesday allegedly showing Aaron Hernandez driving around the industrial park where Odin Lloyd’s body was found on the night of the murder.
The video faintly showed what police say are the headlights of Hernadez’s rented Nissan Altima, though the footage is unclear at best.
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Steven Bennett, a member of the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services,
also testified the herringbone pattern he found in footprints at the murder scene matched the pattern in the shoes Hernandez and co-defendant Ernest Wallace were wearing.
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Yesterday the jury heard testimony from Herb Hedges, a consultant with Nike, who identified the shoes Hernandez was wearing in surveillance video (both 90 minutes before the killing and 10 minutes after) as Air Jordan Retro 11 Lows.
Though police say the imprints found at the scene match those shoes, Hedges conceded during cross-examination that more than 3 million shoes with the same sole have been made by the company.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 12: Hernandez lawyers cross-examine Glock employee, but witness sticks to his guns
Defense lawyer James Sultan did his best Thursday to cast doubt on whether Aaron Hernandez was carrying a firearm in surveillance footage and suggested video showed co-defendants Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace instead were carrying weapons the night Odin Lloyd was killed.
Sultan questioned Glock employee Kyle Aspinwall’s testimony from Wednesday that surveillance footage showed the former New England Patriot was carrying a Glock in his house 10 minutes after the murder.
The cross-examination continued with Sultan’s usual first point of attack: questioning the witness’ credibility. He painted Aspinwall as part of the prosecution — since the prosecution reached out to him looking for a specific opinion on the footage — and suggested confirmation bias influenced his testimony. He also questioned whether Aspinwall had any expertise in identifying firearms.
Aspinwall, who testified Hernandez was carrying a gun before and after the time Odin Lloyd was killed, was previously a New Hampshire state trooper and firearms instructor before his job as a Glock sales representative.
Sultan also suggested the gun could have been a replica pellet or airsoft gun, but Aspinwall insisted there were noticeable differences. Prosecutors said the defense painted the replica to make it look more like the real thing to the jury.
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Sultan presented additional security footage of Hernandez in his house less than 10 minutes after Lloyd was killed. Despite asserting that Aspinwall did not have “supernatural powers of vision’’ in his criticism of his earlier testimony, Sultan pushed the Glock employee to identify items in the blurry images. He repeatedly asked Aspinwall if Wallace or Ortiz appeared to be holding a firearm in the stills taken in the early morning of June 17, 2013. Aspinwall said he did not.
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Sultan also suggested that Hernandez was carrying an iPad in footage up to 48 seconds before the stills in which Aspinwall had earlier identified the former Patriot with a gun.
“Glock pistols don’t have white glows to them, do they sir?’’ asked Sultan.
“No, they do not,’’ Aspinwall replied.
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Upon re-direct examination, prosecutor Patrick Bomberg had Aspinwall reconfirm his identification of a pistol in Hernandez’s hand as he entered his basement at 3:35 a.m., as well as confirm his opinion that the item in Ortiz’s hand was not a gun.
Prosecutors also showed a to-do list from Hernandez’s phone, with one item that said “Send rounds,’’ implying a reference to ammunition.
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Aspinwall stepped down from the stand just before 3:30 p.m. after more than seven hours of testimony.
Before testimony began Thursday, Hernandez’s lawyers requested that all of Aspinwall’s testimony from Wednesday be stricken from the record on the grounds that the Glock employee did not have the requisite qualifications. Judge E. Susan Garsh denied the initial request, but did strike some of Aspinwall’s testimony. She told jurors that they could consider his identification of the Glock based on the characteristics of the backstrap, but not on his opinion regarding the trigger guard or frontstrap.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 11: In new security system footage 10 minutes after murder, gun expert identifies Hernandez holding Glock pistol
Aaron Hernandez was carrying a Glock pistol in surveillance footage taken roughly 10 minutes after Odin Lloyd was killed, according to Glock employee Kyle Aspinwall. Prosecutors showed new video and still shots Wednesday from Hernandez’s home security system at 3:35 a.m. June 17, 2013 of Hernandez exiting and entering the basement.
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In multiple frame-by-frame shots, Aspinwall identified the many parts of the gun on screen — backstrap, magazine well, slide, frontstrap –.and said based on the curvature of the backstrap, trigger guard and other features, the alleged firearm was a Glock pistol held in a reverse grip. Using an example gun on the stand, Aspinwall pointed out the model’s unique features and demonstrated the grip to the jury.
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He also identified a gun in Hernandez’s hand from stills taken in the kitchen and living room roughly 10 minutes after the alleged murder, as well as in the footage — first shown Monday — of Hernandez walking through the house hours before Lloyd’s murder.
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Prosecutors also showed footage from the afternoon following Lloyd’s murder on June 17, of Hernandez entering his basement with a black object in his hand. Aspinwall said the object was the “general size and shape of a Glock 21 pistol.’’
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According to the prosecution, Hernandez kept guns in the basement and texted his fiancee while at the police station, asking her to remove a box from the basement. The prosectution’s theory is that his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, disposed of the murder weapon, which has never been found.
During cross-examination, Hernandez’s lawyer James Sultan tried to cast doubt on whether the gun Aspinwall identified was indeed a Glock, suggesting that other manufacturers make similar-looking guns. Aspinwall, however, stood by his testimony identifying the gun as a Glock.
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Hernandez’s lawyers had previously objected to letting Aspinwall give an opinion about what he saw on surveillance video. Prosecutors argued that Aspinwall would be better able to identify the gun than would the jury, though Hernandez’s lawyers argued he did not have the expertise or “any kind of superhuman eyesight.’’
Judge E. Susan Garsh ruled in favor of the prosecution, stating that Aspinwall was “properly suited’’ with the education and training to identify what he saw on the screen. Garsh said the defense could introduce other Glocks for the jury to compare if they wanted.
The former security director at the Boston W Hotel also testified Wednesday morning that he did not think Hernandez had a gun in the early morning June 15, contradicting eyewitness testimony from another hotel employee.
After the hotel valet manager reported seeing Hernandez with a concealed gun, Jeffrey Keane – who ran security for the hotel – watched Hernandez, but didn’t think the former Patriot had a gun based on the tight clothing he was wearing.
Fee also asked if Hernandez seemed “twitchy’’ or “agitated.’’ Keane replied no, but did say it was unusual for local celebrities to be hanging around on the corner after leaving a nightclub.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 10: Hotel worker says he saw Hernandez with semi-automatic gun two nights before murder
A hotel employee testified Tuesday that Aaron Hernandez had what looked to be a semi-automatic gun while out at a Boston club two nights before the murder.
Samson Michael, the valet manager at the Boston W Hotel, testified he saw the former Patriot with a black gun a little after 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 15, 2013. Hernandez had valeted his car at the hotel and was retrieving an item from his vehicle. Prosecutors say Odin Lloyd was killed with a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol.
Michael said he reported the incident to his director of security and hotel staff. Hernandez drove Lloyd and his child’s babysitter later that night to his Franklin apartment.
Earlier in Tuesday’s proceedings, an AT&T employee continued testimony regarding phone records, including a text Hernandez sent from Lloyd’s phone Saturday morning, June 15, 2013, apologizing to fiancee Shayanna Jenkins for staying out and getting drunk the night before — the same night he tried to kiss the couple’s babysitter.
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Anthony Jerome, another hotel employee, took the stand prior to Michael. Jerome testified that he valeted the black Chevy Suburban, which Hernandez and Lloyd drove in that Friday night. He recalled Hernandez coming back to the car to get a phone, as well as two women later getting in the car with Hernandez and Lloyd, before they left around 2 a.m.
After five hours of cell phone record testimony Tuesday morning, Jerome’s smile and laughter brought a newfound energy to the courtroom. But the witness became frustrated when he wasn’t able to remember many of the details of that night, and had to be shown the transcript of his testimony by prosecutor William McCauley.
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After direct-examination finished, Hernandez’s attorney Michael Fee told Jerome he had no questions, prompting Jerome to exclaim, “thank you,’’ eliciting quiet laughter from Hernandez and Rankin on the bench.
Michael confirmed Jerome’s account of valeting the Chevy Suburban, and then described seeing Hernandez with what he thought was a black, semi-automatic gun. The testimony comes just a day after jurors saw surveillance footage from Hernandez’s home with what prosecutors say is a gun. Hernandez’s lawyers contended it was a remote.
McCauley made sure to seize on that contention during his redirect examination, after Fee questioned Michael’s testimony about what he saw outside the hotel that night.
“Did you see a remote control in the waistband of the defendant that night?’’ McCauley asked.
Michael responded, “No.’’
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 9 Afternoon: Hernandez tried to kiss babysitter after night of partying with Lloyd two days before murder
The babysitter for the child of Aaron Hernandez and Shayanna Jenkins continued her testimony Monday afternoon, telling prosecutors Hernandez drove her against her will to his Franklin “flophouse’’ and tried to kiss her the two days before the Odin Lloyd’s murder.
Jennifer Fortier testified that she went out with a friend to a couple bars and clubs in Boston on Friday, June 14, 2013. According to Fortier, she hadn’t been drinking and they left around 2 a.m. to go home, when they saw Hernandez parked in a black SUV outside the W Boston Hotel. Fortier asked for a ride to her car, but when they got inside Hernandez started driving in the wrong direction and wouldn’t turn around.
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Fortier said Hernandez and Lloyd eventually brought her and her friend to his Franklin apartment, where Hernandez and Lloyd smoked marijuana and drank wine. She said that Hernandez and Lloyd seemed to be in good spirits and that there were no arguments between the two.
Fortier said Hernandez called her to his bedroom and tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away.
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After Hernandez later fell asleep, she and her friend went outside and called a cab back to her car. Jenkins, Hernandez’s fiancee, was not in attendance Monday.
Fortier said she was paid $250 dollars for the 4 hours she babysat for the couple two days later (on the night of the murder), compared to her usual $20 an hour rate. However, during cross-examination, she said it wasn’t unusual for Hernandez and Jenkins to overpay her.
Defense attorney Michael Fee also pushed Fortier on the alleged gun Hernandez was holding, seen on a home surveillance camera, hours before Lloyd was killed.
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After Fortier stepped down from the stand, an AT&T employee also testified to authenticate communication records between Jenkins and Hernandez.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 9 Morning: Murder weapon or TV remote? Home security system shows Hernandez with dark object the night of the murder
Jurors watched surveillance footage Monday of the former Patriot carrying what prosecutors say is a gun in his house the night of the murder. Hernandez’s lawyers say the object is a TV remote, per WCVB’s Liam Martin.
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The grainy footage shows Hernandez walking through the house with a dark object hours before the murder occurred, switching it in his hands away from the babysitter.
Jennifer Fortier, who was babysitting for Hernandez and Jenkins while they went out in Providence, said she did not notice him carrying anything. Fortier testified that Hernandez and Jenkins left shortly before 9 p.m., while she stayed home with the baby.
Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz entered the house around 12:15 a.m. after several minutes standing outside the house and going through their car. They told Fortier they were waiting to meet Hernandez. A little after 12:45 a.m., Hernandez and Jenkins return and the security footage later shows Hernandez with the object walking past Fortier on the couch.
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Hernandez, Wallace, and Ortiz left in the rented Nissan Altima at 1:09 a.m., a little more than two hours before Lloyd was allegedly killed. The surveillance footage showed the driver’s side mirror, which was broken off when returned to car rental agency, intact. After talking with Jenkins, Fortier left the house shortly before 2 a.m.
Fortier said that night was the last time she babysat for the couple and that she signed a nondisclosure form a day after the murder, a condition that she had previously discussed with Jenkins at her hiring interview.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 5: Cell phone data shows Odin Lloyd moving from Boston to murder scene on night of the murder
Cell phone movement data showed Odin Lloyd traveling from Boston to North Attleborough the night of his murder, according to a T-Mobile employee who testified Thursday. Police say Lloyd was picked up by Hernandez at his Boston home and driven to the industrial park in North Attleborough where he was ultimately killed.
Based on cell phone tower data that was tracking Lloyd’s communication and location, T-Mobile employee Patrick Quinn pointed out to jurors yellow dots following the movement of Lloyd’s phone.
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Two witnesses who lived near Aaron Hernandez’s alleged “flop house’’ in Franklin testified Thursday that she saw Hernandez and codefendant Ernest Wallace around the apartment. One neighbor said she noticed an odor coming from the apartment for a month before the murder.
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Hernandez was also allegedly seen arriving in a Hummer, testified neighbors. Police had seized .45-caliber ammunition in the apartment and a .45-caliber magazine in the Hummer, but Judge E. Susan Garsh ruled in September 2014 that the evidence wouldn’t be admissible in trial due to problems with the search warrant.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 4 Afternoon: Lloyd was shot at point-blank range; rear tire tracks match Altima that Hernandez rented
Odin Lloyd was shot at point-blank range, testified a police investigator Wednesday. Sherri Menendez, a Massachusetts State Police crime lab employee, held up Lloyd’s jacket, on which she had labeled 11 bullet holes, as well as his blood-stained plaid shirt.
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Based on an analysis of the gun residue on Lloyd’s clothing, Menendez said he was shot multiple times three to five feet away from the shooter.
During cross-examination, Menendez told defense lawyer James Sultan that a curly, brown hair was found on a white towel recovered close to Lloyd’s body.
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Todd Girouard, a Massachusetts state trooper, also testified regarding the footprints and tire tracks found at the scene. Police said they found size 13 impressions at the scene, which were shown to not match Ortiz’s foot size. Police had seized size 13 Nikes from Hernandez’s bedroom closet, when they were searching his home June 22, 2013.
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Girouard also compared the tire tracks found at the scene with the treads on the Nissan Altima that Hernandez rented. He testified that the rear tire treads were consistent with the tracks found near Lloyd’s body, even though the front tires did not match.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 4 Morning: Judge Garsh denies prosecutors’ request to enter testimony regarding 2013 Florida shooting
Judge E. Susan Garsh denied the prosecution’s motion Wednesday to introduce testimony about a 2013 Florida shooting in which Aaron Hernandez allegedly shot a friend in the face.
Alexander Bradley stands during arraignment on weapons charges in a Hartford Superior Court last year.
After considering the motion, Garsh decided not to reverse her previous ruling to deny testimony regarding the incident, in which Alexander Bradley said Hernandez shot him in the face after the two got into an argument at a Miami strip club. Bradley did not pursue criminal charges, but has filed a civil suit for $100,000 in damages.
Prosecutors said that the defense lawyers had made the incident relevant by arguing Hernandez would not murder his “good friend’’ Odin Lloyd. However, Hernandez’s lawyers argued that prosecutors publicly filed the motion in an effort to influence the media and that the trial should focus solely on the Lloyd case.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 3 Afternoon: Hernandez and associates’ fingerprints found on car allegedly drove to murder scene
Massachusetts state trooper David Mackin testified Tuesday afternoon that fingerprints from Aaron Hernandez, Ernest Wallace, Carlos Ortiz and Odin Lloyd were found on the car prosecutors say Hernandez drove to the crime scene. Mackin said that Hernandez’s fingerprints were found on the driver’s door of the Nissan Altima he had rented.
According to Mackin, fingerprints from Hernandez, Wallace and Ortiz were found on a Chrysler 300 rented by Hernandez the day after Lloyd was killed.
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Mackin also testified that no prints were found on any of the shell casings taken from the murder scene, nor the casings originally taken from the Altima.
In his cross-examination, Hernandez’s lawyer James Sultan questioned Mackin for earlier testifying that he was “certified’’ in fingerprint analysis. Mackin admitted he was not technically certified, but that he had passed necessary fingerprint proficiency tests required by the Massachusetts State Police.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 3 Morning: Housekeeper saw Hernandez messing with surveillance camera day after alleged murder
A fourth housekeeper testified Tuesday in the Hernandez trial. Glaucia Santos said she was in the basement cleaning on June 18, 2013, a day after Lloyd was killed, when she saw Hernandez come down and fidget with a surveillance camera. However, he “stopped immediately,’’ Santos said, when he noticed she was there.
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Speaking through a translator, Santos also said she smelled and saw large amounts of marijuana on a countertop in Hernandez’s basement that same day.
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Raymond MacDonald, a T-Mobile employee that handles subpoena requests, also testified, regarding texts sent between Hernandez and Lloyd.
After most of Monday’s session was spent with a Sprint employee explaining Hernandez’s phone records, MacDonald described Lloyd’s cell phone records, showing that Hernandez and Lloyd frequently were in contact in the days before the alleged murder.
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Much of Monday’s session was spent hearing testimony from a Sprint employee regarding texts sent from Hernandez’s phone. However, texts to Lloyd during the days before the alleged murder had been deleted before Hernandez gave his phone to police.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
March 2: Prosecutors file to allow evidence from 2013 shooting; Odin Lloyd’s sister testifies
Prosecutors renewed a previously-denied motion Monday to allow evidence relating to a February 2013 shooting in Florida, in which Hernandez allegedly shot friend Alexander Bradley in the face after Bradley “made disrespectful remarks.’’
According to Florida police, Bradley was found lying on the ground, bleeding from the head, outside a John Deere tractor store. In June 2013, Bradley filed a civil suit alleging Hernandez shot him in the face and fled the scene after the two were at a Miami strip club.
Prosecutors say the shooting is relevant because the defense has argued that Hernandez would never shoot his “friend’’ Odin Lloyd. Bradley had previously been included in the prosecution’s witness list.
Odin Lloyd’s sister Shaquilla Thibou took the stand later Monday afternoon. She testified she saw Lloyd get into the back of a silver Nissan Altima early in the morning on June 17, 2013. She described seeing no damage on the car at the time.
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Thibou testified that after Lloyd left she received multiple text messages from her brother between 3:07 a.m. and 3:23 a.m.
She also tearily recounted the event the following day when she learned Lloyd had been killed.
Judge E. Susan Garsh previously barred prosecutors from submitting the contents of the text messages into court, deeming them irrelevant to the case.
For a good portion of Monday’s session, a Sprint employee testified regarding calls made between Hernandez, Lloyd and Ernest Wallace during the days surrounding the murder.
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After the session concluded, Judge Garsh ruled that prosecutors could show the jury a .45-caliber Glock as a reference for the type used to kill Lloyd, as well as the type they allege Hernandez is holding in home surveillance footage. Defense lawyers had fought to keep the weapon out of court. The actual weapon used to kill Lloyd has never been found.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb 26: Jury views $273.75 bar tab from night of the murder, surveillance video of Hernandez buying gum that links him to bullets
Kelly Rose Belanger, bar manager of the South Street Cafe in Providence, where Hernandez and five other people went out for a Father’s Day dinner, said she saw the former Patriot smoking marijuana with another man on the corner outside, while repeatedly leaving and reentering the restaurant.
Additionally, prosecutors presented the $273.45 receipt for the party of six, which included 11 Hennesseys, 10 Sex on the Beach drinks, seven Bud Lights and two Grey Goose vodka. The bill included a total of 30 drinks for the party of six (though one, who testified Wednesday, said she didn’t drink). The receipt also showed they were there from 9:37 p.m. to 12:18 a.m. Hernandez allegedly left his North Attleborough home around 1 a.m. to pick up Lloyd. The house is approximately a 20-minute drive from the South Street Cafe, according to Google Maps.
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The receipt also shows that Hernandez, who paid for the entire group, tipped $30.00 on the $243.75 bill, a 12.3 percent tip.
Jurors also heard testimony from the gas station employee where Hernandez stopped to get gas and buy gum and cigars. Surveillance video at the station showed Hernandez with co-defendants Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, who was wearing a white towel around his neck similiar to the one found near Odin Lloyd’s body. Hernandez seems to tell Wallace and Ortiz to stay inside the car, before buying gas and going inside the store.
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Blue gum was found on a shell casing originally taken from a car Hernandez rented. Prosecutors say that Hernandez’s DNA was on the casing.
Prosecutors also showed photos of what they say are Hernandez’s footprints at the crime scene, as well as tire tracks said to match the Nissan Altima he rented. Hernandez’s defense lawyers, however, have repeatedly claimed that police activity cluttered any impressions left in the dirt.
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– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 25: Bullets found in Hernandez’s rental car match bullets from the crime scene, say police
According to police ballistics expert Stephen Walsh, who testified for more than three hours Wednesday, bullets that originally were found in a car Aaron Hernandez rented came from the same gun as bullets found at the crime scene.
By examining microscopic markings on the individual shell casings, Walsh said he could determine with a “reasonable degree of ballistic certainty’’ that the .40-caliber bullets taken from Hernandez’s rental car (and discarded into a dumpster) came from the same .45-caliber weapon that fired five bullets found around Odin Lloyd’s body.
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Upon cross-examination, defense lawyer James Sultan cast doubt on how certain Walsh could conclude the casings came from the same weapon. Sultan contended the polygonal rifling patterns on the .45-caliber weapon in question made striations on the bullets that were difficult to compare. He also noted that marks left on the gun indicated it came from a rare edition of the .45-caliber Glock, and the gun manufacturer had past issues matching bullets.
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Walsh, however, pushed back and maintained he could reasonably conclude the bullets came from the same weapon, a point reiterated by prosecutors on redirect-examination.
After Walsh stepped down from the stand, Vanessa Sanchez testified that she had attended a group Father’s Day dinner with Hernandez in Providence about three and a half hours before the murder took place.
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Sanchez said Hernandez was friendly and arranged a toast, buying shots for the group to celebrate Father’s Day. She said she never heard Odin Lloyd or any of Hernandez’s co-defendants’ names and that Hernandez was in a good mood. Sanchez also said he paid the bill before leaving.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 24: Photos of Odin Lloyd’s bullet-ridden body and clothes shown in court
Odin Lloyd’s mother, Ursula Ward, left the courtroom in tears Tuesday morning, as the court viewed graphic photos of her son’s postmortem body. State trooper Heather Sullivan testified that the bullet holes in Lloyd’s chest, collarbone, side and arm matched the holes in his clothing.
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Judge E. Susan Garsh told jurors not to be influenced by sympathy for the victim, but only by the evidence present in court. Aaron Hernandez’s mother, Terri, was also present in court.
Jurors also heard testimony from a third housekeeper, who said she was at Hernandez’ house on June 18, 2013, the day after Lloyd’s death. Carla Barbosa said she usually cleaned the bed in the basement guestroom, which on that day appeared disorganized. Prosecutors allege that Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez’s fiancee, ditched the murder weapon on this day. On Monday, another housekeeper said she had found a gun under the same mattress a month earlier.
The courtroom also viewed video clips of Jenkins carrying a large, black trash bag behind the house on that same day, placing it in the trunk of a car she borrowed from her sister. Shaneah Jenkins testified earlier in the trial that Shayanna told her she needed to borrow the car to take out cash to pay the housekeepers, but the housekeepers said they were paid via a check, which was presented in court.
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Soon after, Jessica Robidoux, a state crime lab specialist, testified regarding her involvement searching Hernandez’s house for the clothes he wore the night of Lloyd’s death. Though no one was able to find the clothing, she found impressions in the guestroom mattress, which prosecutors contend was from the gun that housekeepers saw.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 23, Afternoon: Housekeeper blows hole in Hernandez fiancee’s alibi following Lloyd’s death
On June 18, 2013 — the day after Odin Lloyd’s death — Shayanna Jenkins borrowed her sister’s car, according to her sister when she took the stand earlier in the trial. Shaneah Jenkins, Lloyd’s girlfriend at the time of his murder, testified that Shayanna said she needed the car to take out cash from the bank to pay the housekeepers. Prosecutors allege that Shayanna borrowed the car to dispose of the murder weapon.
Today Grazielli Silva, Hernandez and Jenkins’ Brazilian housekeeper, testified. She said Shayanna paid by check — not cash — and had the evidence to prove it.
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Silva’s testimony and the $300 check itself was a major win for the prosecution. The fact that she did not receive payment in cash calls into question the reason Shayanna supposedly borrowed her sister’s car. Shaneah had also said she saw Shayanna holding something in a garbage bag. Prosecutors allege it was the murder weapon.
During cross-examination, Silva admitted that she is in the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Hernandez’s lawyers intimated that she was cooperating with the prosecution only to help with her immigration status.
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However, Silva also said she has no agreement with officials for anything in exchange for her testimony and had never spoken to any immigration lawyers before talking to investigators.
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“For me,’’ said Silva, “it would have been better had this never happened.’’
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 23, Morning: Workers recall hearing loud bangs the night of the murder; housekeeper remembers guns in Hernandez’s home
Barbara Chan, a worker at Needletech Products, Inc., located in the North Attleborough industrial park where Odin Lloyd’s body was found, testified Monday that she heard four or five loud bangs the night of Lloyd’s murder. Chan said that she was working the night shift and went to take a nap on her break from at 3 a.m., when she was awoken by noises.
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Another night shift worker at Needletech, Michael Ribiero, also corroborated hearing consecutive banging sounds around the same time that night.
Massachusetts state trooper John Conroy testified about a .22-caliber gun found near the murder scene. Though it is not the murder weapon — Lloyd was killed with a .45-caliber gun which has still not been found — police say it is tied to Hernandez and that they found .22 ammunition at his house.
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Hernandez’s lawyers argued that the gun appears rusty in photos and questioned the timing of when it was allegedly ditched.
One of Hernandez’s housekeepers, Marilia Prinholato, recalled finding guns in the house multiple times while cleaning. At least twice in May 2013, while changing bed sheets, she said she found a black semiautomatic gun underneath a mattress and that a coworker found another smaller gun in Hernandez’s pants.
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Today’s session kicked off with Judge E. Susan Garsh reconsidering a ruling last week that had led to a heated exchange with prosecutor William McCauley. Garsh reversed her previous ruling barring the acknowledgment of text messages sent between Odin Lloyd and his sister the night of his murder. Though the contents of the texts will still be barred from testimony (as well as Lloyd’s sister’s emotional reaction to the texts), Garsh said the fact that texts were exchanged can be submitted as evidence of where and when Lloyd was alive the night of his death.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 19: Court Gets A View From the Inside of Hernandez’s Home
Early testimony Thursday revolved around two search warrants police executed at Hernandez’s home shortly after Lloyd’s body was found. Jurors viewed images of the interior of Hernandez’s house, where police searched and seized .22-caliber ammunition — not the same caliber that killed Lloyd, but related to the weapons charges Hernandez also faces — and a white sweatshirt similar to the one Hernandez is seen wearing on home surveillance video the night of Lloyd’s murder.
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The court also viewed images of a black Chevy Suburban that Hernandez rented and lended to Lloyd parked at Lloyd’s home.
Additionally, forensic drug analyst Timothy Woods testified the joint found at the crime scene and a bowl taken from Hernandez’s home tested positive for marijuana. According to the prosecution, Hernandez’s DNA was found on the joint.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 18 Afternoon: Fiancee’s Uncle: The Day After Lloyd’s Body Was Found, Hernandez Said “My Endorsements Are Gone’’
Azia Jenkins, uncle of Shayanna, Hernandez’s fiancee, testified that the day after Lloyd’s body was found, he was at Hernandez’s home when police arrived. Jenkins said he was met by police and went to the North Attleborough station to answer questions. When he returned from the station, Jenkins said Hernandez asked what police had asked him. Later, while the two were playing pool in the basement and watching an NBA Finals game, a commercial came on the broadcast and, according to Jenkins, Hernandez said “my endorsements are gone.’’
Forensic scientist Alanna Frederick, who works at a state crime lab, also testified regarding Hernandez’s DNA evidence police say was found on the .45-shell casing. During cross examination, defense attorney James Sultan prodded Frederick on whether “wet, sticky materials,’’ such as the bubble gum found pressed against the casing, could transfer DNA from surface to surface. Frederick answered yes, it was potentially possible.
However, upon redirect-examination, Frederick said it would also be possible to know if there were a mixture of DNA samples on a piece of evidence and that forensic analysts would be able to tell the difference.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 18 Morning: Testimony Revolves Around Blue Gum
Testimony on Wednesday morning repeatedly circled back to the blue Bubblicious gum found in the rental car Hernandez allegedly drove the night of the murder. Prosecutors say Hernandez bought the gum from a convenience store the night of the murder, and the gum links the former Patriot to shell casings that match the type used to kill Odin Lloyd. Defense lawyers say the way the casings and gum were collected confounds DNA evidence.
The defense’s cross examination of North Attleborough Police Detective Michael Elliot continued when trial resumed Wednesday morning. Defense attorney James Sultan criticized the way police collected evidence from the Enterprise where Hernandez dropped off the rental car he allegedly drove Lloyd in to the scene of his murder. From the start of the trial the defense has characterized the police investigation as “sloppy and unprofessional.’’
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After Elliot’s testimony, the prosecution called Keelia Smyth, who was the Enterprise manager to whom Hernandez returned the damaged car, to the stand. Smyth testified that Hernandez returned the car with two other men and, even after repeated questions, could not tell her how the car was damaged.
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Smyth said that while later cleaning the car, she found the shell casing — along blue Bubblicious gum and a Vitamin Water bottle — but didn’t think it was important. However, when she heard the news of the investigation, she called police.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 17: Court Views Surveillance Footage of Hernandez Calling Co-Defendant; Defense Say Police Targeted Him
Aaron Hernandez’s defense team tried to make the case that the police investigation of Odin Lloyd’s murder went out of the way to target the former Patriots tight end during Tuesday’s session, which included mostly police testimony.
The court viewed surveillance footage of Hernandez in his car in the police station parking lot around 2 a.m. on June 18, 2013, two hours after he met with detectives.
Prosecutors said the footage showed Hernandez breaking his phone into pieces — the same phone he later handed over to police — while using his lawyer’s phone to call associate Ernest Wallace. Wallace is also charged in Lloyd’s murder.
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Defense attorney James Sultan said that Hernandez was merely taking the battery out of his Blackberry — rather than smashing or dismantling it — and that police operated the surveillance cameras to specifically monitor what Hernandez was doing.
During cross-examination, North Attleborough Detective Michael Elliott told Sultan police videotaped every room in Hernandez’s home during the first execution of their search warrant. Sultan said this was another example of police overstepping their bounds.
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Earlier in the day, the court also viewed photos of the Nissan Altima that Hernandez had rented and allegedly driven the night of Lloyd’s death. Police say the car was returned with its driver side mirror broken off, and that .45-caliber shell casings (the same caliber used to kill Lloyd) were found in the dumpster behind the Enterprise where the car was returned.
Judge E. Susan Garsh adjourned the court around 1:30 p.m. due to continuing snow, so that the weather and road conditions would not distract the jury from hearing evidence.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 13: Judge Allows Police Video of Phone Call in Hernandez Trial
The judge overseeing the murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez on Friday denied a request by his defense team to bar police surveillance video that shows Hernandez using a lawyer’s phone to call one of his co-defendants the day after the killing.
The video was taken in the parking lot of the North Attleborough police station June 18, 2013, the day after Odin Lloyd was killed.
Also Friday, North Attleboro police Detective Daniel Arrighi testified about going to Hernandez’s house the night of June 17, a few hours after Lloyd’s body was found in an industrial park near Hernandez’s home. Arrighi said he and a state trooper knocked and rang the bell repeatedly and no one answered even though he saw lights on inside. [More from Feb. 13 testimony]
– From The Associated Press
Feb. 11: Hernandez’s Fiancée Appears in Court After Being Granted Immunity; Weather Postpones Trial Again
Hernandez greeted his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins with a smile and a warm greeting on Wednesday, a day after she was granted immunity to testify against him for the prosecution. Jenkins arrived in court and sat in her usual spot in the front row behind Hernandez.
As for the testimony, two policemen and one parademic took the stand on Wednesday morning to go over the details, logs, and investigation of the industrial park where Lloyd’s body was found.
Prosecutors presented video taken at the crime scene that shows two shoeprints and tire tracks. They have have argued the prints were made by shoes owned and worn by Hernandez and that the tire tracks are from a car belonging to the former Patriots tight end.
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Another policeman, North Attleborough officer Edward Zimmer, testified that he kept a detailed log of items and investigators at the crime scene. Defense attorneys, attempting to question the integrity of investigation, pointed out that the logged items did not include a marijuana blunt or baseball hat, which were also found on the scene.
One female juror was dismissed due to personal reasons, Judge Susan Garsh said. There are now 16 jurors, down from the original 18.
Because of the expected inclement weather, Wednesday’s trial lasted just two hours. The trial will also not be in session on Thursday.
–Eric Levenson, Boston.com staff
Feb. 10: Judge Grants Immunity to Hernandez’s Fiancée
Judge E. Susan Garsh has granted immunity to Shayanna Jenkins, the fiancée of Aaron Hernandez, per the prosecution’s request, according to multiple media reports.
This means that Jenkins can testify against Hernandez without fear of incriminating herself in court. She is being charged separately with perjury for telling the jury she could not remember her communications with Hernandez or details of certain days following Lloyd’s death. She has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors believe Jenkins helped Hernandez dispose of the alleged murder weapon, which has not been recovered, after Odin Lloyd was killed June 17, 2013. This doesn’t necessarily mean Jenkins will implicate Hernandez for murder; however, she no longer has the right to plead the Fifth Amendment and risks contempt of court charges if she refuses to testify.
Since Hernandez and Jenkins are not yet married, they do not have the right to spousal privilege, which protects the communications between married couples from testimonial disclosure.
Jenkins’ sister, Shaneah, who previously testified for the prosecution, was dating Lloyd at the time of his death.
The trial is set to resume Wednesday morning after being postponed Monday and Tuesday due to snow.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 9 and 10: More Snowstorms Postpone Murder Trial Until Wednesday
The weather has played a large role in the early phases of the Aaron Hernandez murder trial, as yet another snowstorm over the weekend into Monday forced further postponement of the high profile case.
Testimony is scheduled to resume on Wednesday with police officers who were at the crime scene. Read below for details on how the defense last week blamed police for botching the crime scene, trying to depict a shoddy investigation immediately following the discovery of Odin Lloyd’s body.
Feb. 6, Day 6: Jurors Tour Hernandez Home, Crime Scene
There was no testimony in the courtroom on Friday, as Judge Susan Garsh scheduled a day-long tour for the jurors in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial.
A police escort accompanied jurors as they toured important locations in the case, including the former Patriots star’s home, the street where victim Odin Lloyd lived and the North Attleborough industrial park where his body was found. [More]
Feb.5, Day 5 afternoon: Judge Orders Certain Memorabilia Be Removed From Hernandez House; Defense’s Deflategate Joke Falls Flat
Judge E. Susan Garsh ordered Thursday afternoon that trophies and memorabilia not present at the time of Odin Lloyd’s death be removed from Aaron Hernandez’s mansion for Friday’s jury viewing. The session also included police testimony, contentious debates about tire track geometry and a poorly-timed Deflategate joke.
During the cross examination of state trooper Timothy Dowd, defense attorney James Sultan prodded the apparent inconsistencies in the two tire tracks near Lloyd’s body shown on Dowd’s diagram of the scene. Sultan seemed to question whether they could have been created by two different vehicles.
Dowd responded that the tracks did not show on screen as completely parallel because the map was made according to just a few points he marked in the tracks, and that the tracks were made in loose asphalt.
After asking Dowd about his training with tire deflation devices, Sultan attempted a joke about the Patriot’s recent Deflategate scandal.
“Have you ever received training in football deflation devices?’’ he said.
“No,’’ responded Dowd, unamused. Sultan had no further questions.
Judge Garsh ordered that some sports memorabilia and other items be removed from Hernandez’s house for Friday jury viewing if they were not there in 2013. Prosecutors argued that some religious items, trophies, sports memorabilia and photos had been added to the home since the time of Lloyd’s death and should be removed. They compared it to the O.J. Simpson murder trial, in which a Bible was placed on a table before the jury visited Simpson’s home.
Sultan argued “This house is not a museum; it’s been lived in for 21 months.’’
Nevertheless, Judge Garsh maintained her order and told the attorneys to negotiate during lunch what specific items were to be removed. In January, Garsh had refused prosecutors’ requests to cover a display case of sports trophies in Hernandez’s home.
Garsh also warned jurors to dress warmly and wear boots for Friday’s viewing of the alleged murder scene and Hernandez’s home. Temperatures Friday morning in North Attleborough are forecasted around 0 degrees, with up to a -15 degree windchill. The field trip is expected to last about four and a half hours. There will be no testimony on Friday.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Feb. 5, Day 5 morning: Defense Argues Investigators Could Have Protected More Evidence from Rain
When a fast-moving rain storm threatened to damage the crime scene where Odin Lloyd’s body was found, police decided to build a tarp to protect themselves from the rain rather than other potential evidence, North Attleborough Police Capt. Joseph DiRenzo testified Thursday.
While DiRenzo testified that police did cover the body of Lloyd and some footprints with tarps, he said parts of the scene were left unprotected from the storm, including other footprints and tire tracks.
Thursday’s trial brought the first attacks by defense attorneys on the legitimacy of the police investigation of the crime scene. During cross-examination, DiRenzo said several officers made the decision to move evidence, including five shell casings, a towel, a marijuana blunt, and a Red Sox hat, before crime scene services were present.
Defense attorneys criticized that decision as not “the normal way’’ of investigations and grilled police’s handling of the scene ahead of the storm.
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–Eric Levenson, Boston.com staff
Feb. 4, Day 4 afternoon: Ursala Ward Met Many of Odin Lloyd’s Friends, But Never Hernandez
Odin Lloyd’s mother, Ursula Ward, took the stand to answer questions from the prosecution after the midday recess Wednesday.
Ward testified that though Lloyd had many friends who she had met — naming some of them for the court — she had never met, or even seen Hernandez. The line of questioning from the prosecution seemingly intended to rebuke the defense’s cross-examination of Lloyd’s girlfriend earlier Wednesday, which tried to illustrate a close friendship between Lloyd and Hernandez.
After the defense said they had no questions for Ward, prosecutors questioned North Attleborough Police Captain Joseph Direnzo, who was the first officer to arrive at the scene when Lloyd’s body was found June 17, 2013.
On photos shown in court, Direnzo identified the area he had parked his car at Corliss Landing industrial park, as well as separate tracks he found leading to Lloyd’s body. Direnzo is expected back on the stand Thursday.
Before adjourning court for the day, Judge Garsh told the jury to likely expect a four and a half hour field trip on Friday to view areas of North Attleborough, including the crime scene and Hernandez’s home.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Day 4 morning: Defense’s Cross-Examination of Lloyd’s Girlfriend Highlights Close Friendship
Lloyd’s girlfriend Shaneah Jenkins reiterated that Lloyd and Hernandez were in the “beginning stages of a friendship’’ before his death, while the defense attempted to portray the two as close friends.
During cross-examination, Jenkins said that Hernandez and Lloyd hung out together on several occasions, including going bowling and dancing at a club in Boston and a club in Rhode Island. She also testified about Lloyd and Hernandez socializing while using marijuana together in Hernandez’s North Attleborough home.
The cross-examination also took Jenkins testimony from the day before, in which she said that Hernandez had comforted her after Lloyd’s death by saying, “I’ve been through this death thing before, it will get better with time.’’ The defense noted that Hernandez had lost his father in 2006.
–Eric Levenson, Boston.com staff
Day 3 afternoon: Odin Lloyd’s Girlfriend Testifies She Saw Hernandez Fiancee Acting ‘Secretive’ After Alleged Murder
After jury issues culminated in the dismissal of one juror Tuesday morning, Shaneah Jenkins returned to the witness stand in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial. Jenkins, who was the girlfriend of victim Odin Lloyd, answered questions from prosecutor William McCauley for the entirety of the afternoon session.
Jenkins testified that on June 18, a day after Lloyd’s body was found, she went to visit her sister Shayanna — also Hernandez’s fiancee — at the former Patriot’s North Attleborough home. She recalled seeing her sister in the basement with something folded in a black trash bag. Jenkins said Shayanna asked to borrow her car to go to the bank to take out money to pay housekeepers.
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Though very composed throughout her testimony, Jenkins did tear up momentarily when the prosecution had her recall the moment she received the call from police informing her Lloyd had been killed.
Jenkins also recounted her interactions with Hernandez following Lloyd’s death. She said that in their minimal interactions the week after Lloyd’s death, Hernandez seemed “normal but stressed.’’ She did, however, recount one instance that Hernandez comforted her.
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– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Day 3 Update: Juror Dismissed For Expressing Opinions on the Case Outside of Court
A white, middle-aged female juror was dismissed from the trial by Judge E. Susan Garsh after “credible evidence’’ was found that she had talked openly and expressed an opinion about the case.
Juror #96 was dismissed, according to the Herald News’ Brian Fraga, for declaring an opinion that it would be hard to convict Hernandez and expressing an interest in serving on this particular jury. Garsh said that the juror had also discussed evidence that had previously been ruled inadmissible in the trial.
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The juror also attended more Patriots games than she originally said on her pre-trial questionnaire.
The dismissal reduces the jury from 18 to 17, with five alternates instead of six. Garsh said the trial will resume at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Day 3 Update: Judge Closes Court to Public to Deal With Juror Issue
Shortly before noon on Tuesday, Judge E. Susan Garsh reconvened court to announce a closed hearing to investigate whether a female juror was fit to remain on the jury. Reporters and spectators were then asked to leave the courtroom so that the juror could be questioned by the judge and lawyers.
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Both the prosecution and defense had requested for the hearing to be closed.
According to The Sun Chronicle’s David Linton, Garsh said the private session was necessary because it would be difficult for the juror to be impartial if questions about her qualifications were publicized.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Day 3 Morning: Judge Suspends Court for Evidentiary Hearing After Questioning Juror
Judge E. Susan Garsh called for an evidentiary hearing Tuesday morning in the third day of the Aaron Hernandez murder trial, after lawyers argued about Hernandez’s right to be present during sidebars.
The start of the session was delayed after Garsh called a female juror for questioning at a sidebar, which is an area near the judge’s bench where lawyers can speak with the judge off the record and out of earshot of the jury. Garsh did not immediately explain to the court what the juror was being questioned about.
There are six alternate jurors in case one of the 12 jury members needs to be dismissed.
After questioning the juror, Hernandez’s attorneys told Garsh the former Patriots tight end had the right to be present during sidebars. According to Garsh, Hernandez does not have the right to be present at sidebars having to do with evidence.
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Garsh then called a brief recess for an evidentiary hearing for reasons that currently remain unclear.
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– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Day 2 afternoon: Odin Lloyd’s Girlfriend Testifies Lloyd and Hernandez Were Not Close
Shaneah Jenkins, the girlfriend of Odin Lloyd, testified on Friday that Lloyd and Aaron Hernandez were in the “beginning stages of a friendship’’ just before Lloyd was shot and killed in June 2013.
That description of their friendship, which she also described as “cordial,’’ contradicts the defense’s assertion in opening statements that the two were close friends.
Jenkins, a criminal law student at New England School of Law, was calm and composed on the stand during testimony. Her sister Shayannah Jenkins is engaged to Hernandez. Jenkins testified that she introduced Lloyd and Hernandez about ten months before his death.
Jenkins also talked about visiting Hernandez and her sister at the former Patriot’s North Attleborough home with Lloyd. She testified that Hernandez and Lloyd smoked marijuana together during the visits.
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The court broke for recess just before 1 p.m. Friday. Jenkin’s testimony and the defense’s cross-examination will continue on Monday.
–Eric Levenson, Boston.com Staff
Day 2 morning: Witnesses Recount Discovery of Odin Lloyd’s Body
Prosecution in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial started Friday’s session with witnesses recounting the details of discovering Odin Lloyd’s dead body in a North Attleborough industrial park in June of 2013.
For the second day in a row, Ursula Ward — the mother of the victim — left the courtroom in tears as photos of Lloyd’s body were displayed by the prosecution team.
Two employees of Corliss Landing, the business where a teen jogger went looking for help after first discovering Lloyd’s body, provided grisly details of the scene. Captain John White, Jr. of the North Attleborough Fire Department also took the stand. After White was unable to move the victim’s jaw or arms, he pronounced Lloyd dead on the scene.
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Corliss Landing employee William Cambio, and the company’s president David Swithers, also provided details of the scene as they approached the body. Swither’s account caused Lloyd’s mother Ursula Ward to tear up and bow her head. She would eventually leave the courtroom.
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Before a short recess at 11 a.m., Judge Susan Garsh asked the prosecution to provide a warning before displaying graphic imagery.
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The prosecution team focused a great deal on the shoes of those who first got to the scene. Footprint evidence is crucial in this case.
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It was also noted that the only Hernandez family member in court today was his older brother DJ.
– Chris Rattey, Boston.com Staff
Day One: Jogger Recalls Finding Body in Exhaustive Detail
After opening statements and a lunch recess, the Aaron Hernandez trial continued with the prosecution calling two witnesses. The first was Lloyd’s boss, Lorne Giroux, who owned a Norwood fertilizer company and verified that Lloyd had texted him the night before his death to confirm he had work the next day.
The second witness was the 17-year-old Bishop Feehan student who found Lloyd’s body, while jogging through the industrial park the next afternoon.
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Proescutor William McCauley had the teenager recount the events of finding the body in exhaustive detail, down to the sneakers he was wearing that day.
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McCauley also presented jurors with a photo of Lloyd’s body, with his back on the ground and a Red Sox hat a few feet from his body.
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The court will reconvene for a half-day tomorrow, as they will do on all Fridays.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
Opening Arguments: What You Need to Know
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The Aaron Hernandez murder trial is underway, with both the prosecution and defense laying out their opening arguments before the jury in Fall River.
Bristol County prosecutor Patrick Blomberg began his statements around noon, arguing that Hernandez and two associates, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, drove Odin Lloyd to an isolated industrial park in North Attleborough. There, the prosecution said, they shot him six times and left him to die.
Blomberg said that DNA from an unlit joint found at the crime scene and from shell casings in the car Hernandez rented would link the former football player to the murder.
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In his opening arguments, defense attorney Michael Fee characterized the prosecution as “sloppy and unprofessional.’’
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“They locked on Aaron and they targeted him,’’ said Fee, because of Hernandez’s celebrity status.
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Fee also argued that Hernandez was friends with Lloyd and that evidence Hernandez was at the scene was not proof that he killed, conspired to kill or wanted to kill Lloyd.
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Part of the defense’s reasoning was Hernandez would kill Lloyd because he dealt Hernandez marijuana and was known as the “blunt master.’’
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Throughout the opening statements, Hernandez appeared to be rocking sideways, nervously, in his courtroom chair.
Before the court took a recess, Garsh reminded the jurors that under Massachusetts law, the state did not have to prove Hernandez personally shot Lloyd. What the prosecution does have to prove is that he “knowingly participated’’ and did so “with intent required to commit the crime.’’
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
New Juror Selected After Woman Failed to Report
Opening arguments began at noon in the murder trial for former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez after a judge swore in jurors Thursday morning.
The trial was briefly delayed after one juror was late and another failed to report, sending a letter to Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh. According to the Providence Journal, after a private sidebar with the defense, Garsh selected a middle-aged man out of the 13 potential alternate jurors to fill in the vacant slot. She did not disclose the contents of the letter as to why the juror did now show up for the trial.
Finding a new juror took two hours and the jury now is made up of 12 women and six men.
Hernandez, as well as associates Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, is charged with the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, whose body was found in a North Attleborough industrial park, less than a mile from the former Patriot’s mansion.
Hernandez had signed a $40 million contract extension with the Patriots in 2012, and caught a touchdown in the team’s 2012 Super Bowl appearance. He was cut by the team less than two hours after being arrested in June of 2013.
Hernandez also awaits trial for murder charges relating to a 2012 double homicide in Boston’s South End.
– Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com Staff
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