Judge Erases Aaron Hernandez Murder Conviction
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-grants-request-erase-aaron-hernandezs-murder-conviction/story?id=47294088A Massachusetts judge today granted a request to erase Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction, less than one month after the former New England Patriots star hanged himself in prison.
“Abatement has been practiced in state and federal courts for more than a century,” Judge Susan Garsh said in delivering her ruling from the bench in Fall River. She noted that “an appeal is an integral part of the system” and said the interests of justice do not permit a defendant to stand convicted upon death if appeals are not exhausted.
“Abatement remains the law in this Commonwealth and this court is compelled to follow binding precedent,” Garsh said.
The judge said she could not abide by the assertion of prosecutors that Hernandez knew his about abatement when he decided to commit suicide. “This court cannot know why Hernandez chose to end his life,” Garsh said, adding that suicide is a “complex act that may have myriad causes.”
John Thompson, Hernandez’s appellate attorney, had argued to the judge, “When the defendant dies after a trial and before an appeal the abatement ab initio doctrine applies without exception. ... This is an established common law doctrine.”
But prosecutors in Bristol County, where Hernandez was found guilty in the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, argued there is no constitutional right to abatement -- prosecutor Pat Bomberg said it instead “is a practice.” Bomberg also told the judge there is no reason to erase the conviction since doing so would “reward” Hernandez for taking his own life.
On April 19, Hernandez was found naked hanging from a bed sheet in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office said. His death was ruled a suicide. Hernandez left behind three notes, and in one note, Bomberg said, Hernandez indicated he knew about abatement.
Hernandez was serving a life sentence after he was convicted in April 2015 of murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition for the June 2013 killing of Lloyd in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Lloyd was dating the sister of Shayanna Jenkins Hernandez, who was Hernandez's fiancée.
Five days before his death, Hernandez was acquitted in a double murder that occurred in 2012.
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that was his end game all along.....wasnt no conspiracy, he committed that so he can have his convictions erased in order for the Patriots to give any contract money due to him to his wife and daughter
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this been such a crazy/ odd story
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Way to play the system bruh
Yet somehow I don't think you gonna read this post -
that was his end game all along.....wasnt no conspiracy, he committed that so he can have his convictions erased in order for the Patriots to give any contract money due to him to his wife and daughter
It would be some tragic irony if they still ended up not having to pay him. -
Power move
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Hollywood script on the way
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The families will sue his estate anyway and most likely win
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yeah Odin Lloyds family is definitely going to sue
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Already Home_17 wrote: »yeah Odin Lloyds family is definitely going to sue
The family lawyer already came out said the family want the patriots to the money so they can sue for some of that money.
Lawyer for Aaron Hernandez victim’s family challenges Patriots to pay family
The New England Patriots can become “champions of justice” by agreeing to pay $6 million to the estate of former tight end Aaron J. Hernandez, a move that would make that money available to the family of Odin L. Lloyd who was shot to death by Hernandez in 2013, a lawyer said Friday.
Douglas K. Sheff, the lawyer for Lloyd’s mother Ursula Ward, made the request during a press conference in Boston. He said Hernandez has already been ruled legally responsible for Lloyd’s death in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the Lloyd family.
The only issue outstanding issue in the lawsuit, he said, is how much the family will recover from the estate of Hernandez, who killed himself this week in his state prison cell, where he was serving life without parole for murdering Lloyd in North Attleborough in 2013.
The Patriots severed all ties with Hernandez after his arrest. But his suicide came before his conviction was reviewed by an appellate court, possibly clearing the way for the Patriots to resume payments that some media reports as put as high as $6 million.
Sheff said he did not know the actual number, but he issued what he called the “friendly challenge’’ in hopes of spurring the team into quickly resolving the issue.
“I want to issue a very friendly challenge to the New England Patriots, the best team, the best team in the NFL. Nothing like them. Nothing like them,’’ Sheff said. He said if they released the money, they could become something more than Super Bowl champions, they could become “champions of justice.’’
Sheff said he did not know how much money was left in the Hernandez estate after two first-degree murder trials against Hernandez. Hernandez, 27, was acquitted last week in the second case, in which he was accused of a double murder in Boston in 2012.
Ursula Ward, Lloyd’s mother, joined Sheff at the press conference, telling reporters that she forgave Hernandez for murdering her son.
“I pray to ? his soul is at peace,’’ she said. “I pray he finds comfort. I pray he finds peace.”
Ward said she was pushing forward with the lawsuit because it could help her family financially and because she hopes to fund scholarships in her son’s name as well as provide support for families of other homicide victims whose deaths do not get media coverage.
“I lost my best friend. I lost my son. I lost a lot of my life,’’ she said. “I am not going to lie to you, it will help. ... But even if there’s not a penny, it has nothing to do with my justice for Odin Lloyd. I’m going to use my voice.’’
Sheff said the family doesn’t want any money from the team turned over to the Hernandez estate without the Lloyd family getting a chance to intercede.
Under a quirk of Massachusetts law, because Hernandez’s case had not yet been reviewed on appeal, his conviction in the Lloyd case could be vacated.
Questions have been raised about whether, because of that, his estate is entitled to recover any or all of $5.91 million that was previously guaranteed in his contract but the Patriots withheld after his arrest.
The Globe’s Ben Volin reports, however, that the Patriots probably are not going to have to pay the $5.9 million.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/21/lawyer-for-aaron-hernandez-victim-challenges-patriots-pay-family-become-champions-justice/VITv2uyYlUW5KNxsppP3rO/story.html -
that was his end game all along.....wasnt no conspiracy, he committed that so he can have his convictions erased in order for the Patriots to give any contract money due to him to his wife and daughter
If the Patriots do pay they may as well cut the check to Odin Lloyd's family -
winning after death?
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Boss move
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So money is more important to your child and family than you are? Even if your locked up you still have the opportunity to speak and somewhat be there for your daughter
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Logical Truths wrote: »So money is more important to your child and family than you are? Even if your locked up you still have the opportunity to speak and somewhat be there for your daughter
Whatever millions the patriots supposedly supposed to be giving dude family would do his fam a lot more good then dude staying alive behind bars let's be real -
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Logical Truths wrote: »So money is more important to your child and family than you are? Even if your locked up you still have the opportunity to speak and somewhat be there for your daughter
Whatever millions the patriots supposedly supposed to be giving dude family would do his fam a lot more good then dude staying alive behind bars let's be real
You must be right. That was his only way to make money......he couldn't have written a book or something .
