Just three days before his former team plays in the Super Bowl, Aaron Hernandez, former New England tight end, murder trial will begin this Thursday. The said schedule was delayed due to thick snows around 3 ft in southeastern Massachussetts.
Hernandez was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd. Prosecutors has also found a .45 caliber pistol allegedly used to kill Lloyd behind an industrial park in North Attleboro which is near to Hernandez's McMansion in 2013.
With the charges, there is a light forensic evidence that Hernandez was responsible behind the committed crime. Earlier, there was a man named Ernest Wallace Jr. who was previously suspected with the murder, however, had not flipped with Hernandez. In addition, there was a success in winning numerous pretrial arguments to restrict the evidence produced.
Previously, Hernandez has already pleaded not guilty in mudering Lloyd, who was also a former semi-football player player shot to death last 2013.
However, in the next few weeks the prosecutors will attempt to prove that Hernandez has orchestrated the 2013 execution-style shooting death to his friend, said the Courant. In the prosecution process, they will be using the cell tower data, surveillance footage, and testimonies from witnesses to convince the jurors that the ex-NFL star made plans to meet with Lloyd on a Father's Day. There was already an earlier dispute between the two that made Hernandez angry and feeling disrespected. He picked Lloyd from his house in Dorchester and drove him to the industrial park in North Attleborough where the victim was shot five times.
The jury selected as reported has been a lengthy process. But on Monday, there were 18 people (13 women, 5 men) who were chosen to be the jury of the case. Six of them will be assigned as alternates after the testimony ends in the trial and when the deliberation begins.
Legal analyst J. W. Carney said something about the dominance of the women in the jury selection, "It's interesting that many women would be sitting on a jury but it's certainly not unprecedented."
Carney also added about the stereotypes of role genders, "It may be a stereotype that more men follow football closely than women, but the important factor is do they approach the trial with an open mind and a willingness to hold the government to its burden of proof."
The trial is expected to be surrounded with a circus of media, so there would be some TV satellites stationed in the surrounding areas in the courthouse which will start before dawn every morning. Hernandez was previously a popular sports star in the region.
This Thursday, Hernandez will be facing trial charges with murder and two illegal firearm charges in Lloyd's case. In Massachusetts alone, he will face around 14 charges in total, including two more murder accounts from 2012 double homicide in Boston.
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