Post by Guvmintcheeze on Dec 7, 2014 5:58:34 GMT
Aaron Hernandez's attorneys file motions seeking to exclude evidence
Aaron Hernandez's attorneys filed multiple motions Friday in an effort to block a jury from hearing evidence in the former football star's upcoming murder trial — including details about other shootings he has been linked to, his tattoos and alleged gang affiliation, and guns and ammunition found in his home.
Hernandez, the former Pro Bowl tight end for the New England Patriots, is scheduled to go to trial beginning Jan. 9 on murder and weapons charges in the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd.
Hernandez faces separate murder and assault charges in a shooting on July 16, 2012, that left two men dead and another wounded. That trial is currently scheduled to start May 28, but a judge has already agreed to push it back, although no new date has been set.
Lloyd, a semipro football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee, was gunned down in a field about half a mile from the player's mansion in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, which is southwest of Boston.
Judge E. Susan Garsh, who is presiding over the upcoming trial, scheduled a hearing Dec. 12 to consider the new defense motions.
In all, Hernandez's lawyers filed three motions seeking to exclude evidence of "bad acts," evidence that is unfairly prejudicial to the player, and evidence they argue is "irrelevant" and inadmissible from the jury's consideration.
Evidence of Hernandez's so-called "bad acts" that his lawyers want withheld from the jury include details about the double-murder in Boston; about guns linked to the player that were purchased in Florida and allegedly transported to Massachusetts by another man; about a confrontation involving him and Jets fans outside a Providence, Rhode Island, nightclub in May 2013; about a rifle and ammunition found in his home; about a pistol found in the woods not far from his house; and about a shooting in Florida in February 2013 that Hernandez has been accused of in a civil lawsuit. In addition, his lawyers want to keep the jury from being shown a photograph of Hernandez, first published by the celebrity gossip website TMZ, that depicts him holding what has been identified as a Glock pistol.
Investigators believe Lloyd was murdered with a Glock.
Hernandez's lawyers also want the judge to order prosecutors to file detailed information on 22 other pieces of "bad acts" evidence.
"The 30 alleged 'bad acts' the Commonwealth seeks to present evidence about at the defendant's upcoming murder trial encompass a cornucopia of alleged activities including other shootings, gun trafficking, firearms possession, drug use, a drunk driving arrest, a 2009 photograph and even a fender bender," Hernandez's lawyers wrote in their motion. "If permitted to introduce all or even much of this evidence, the Commonwealth will have succeeded in transforming a murder trial into a wide-ranging, collateral attack on the defendant's personal history, character, lifestyle, and propensities."
Defense attorneys Michael Fee, Charles Rankin and James Sultan contend evidence of Hernandez's "alleged gang membership and his body tattoos" falls into the category of "irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial."
They also contend that the judge should exclude other evidence under the heading of "irrelevant and otherwise inadmissible." That includes recordings of phone calls involving others who have been linked to Lloyd's death, phone calls involving Hernandez's cousin, letters sent to him in jail, evidence about his cousin's refusal to testify before a grand jury and jail "video surveillance pertaining to assault on inmate and threat to correctional officer" — both incidents for which the former player has been indicted.
Prosecutors still have a chance to file documents opposing the motion, and Judge Garsh will hear arguments at next week's hearing.
Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez, angered at Lloyd after an incident at a nightclub in Boston, summoned two friends from his hometown of Bristol, Connecticut, to the player's mansion in North Attleboro late on the night of June 16, 2013. At the same time, according to court documents, Hernandez allegedly contacted Lloyd and arranged to pick him up at his home in the Dorchester section of Boston for a night out.
Hernandez, joined by Carlos Ortiz, 28, and Ernest Wallace Jr., 42, allegedly drove to Boston to pick up Lloyd, and then returned to North Attleboro, pulling into a secluded field in an industrial park that was surrounded by trees and piles of gravel and asphalt.
There, Lloyd was gunned down with multiple shots from a .45-caliber handgun.
Ortiz and Wallace have also been charged with murder in Lloyd's death under a legal theory known as "joint venture." Prosecutors have asserted in court that Hernandez orchestrated the killings, but they have not divulged their theory of the crime — including their belief about who fired the fatal shots — and don't have to until they present their case at trial.
To convict someone of murder, it is necessary to show that person was involved in the crime, but not that he or she actually carried out the killing.
Hernandez was arrested in Lloyd's death eight days after the man's body was found. The Patriots cut him hours later, and he has been behind bars without bail since.
In the Boston case, Hernandez has been charged with multiple counts of murder and assault in the deaths of Brian de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Furtado, 28, and the wounding of a third man. Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez, angered that de Abreu bumped him on a nightclub dance floor and spilled his drink, seethed for more than an hour before he saw them leaving the club. At that point, Hernandez allegedly circled the block several times waiting for the men to emerge from a parking garage, followed them several blocks, and then opened fire on their vehicle as they sat at a traffic light.
Hernandez was not identified as a suspect in that case until after he was arrested in Lloyd's death.
Aaron Hernandez's attorneys filed multiple motions Friday in an effort to block a jury from hearing evidence in the former football star's upcoming murder trial — including details about other shootings he has been linked to, his tattoos and alleged gang affiliation, and guns and ammunition found in his home.
Hernandez, the former Pro Bowl tight end for the New England Patriots, is scheduled to go to trial beginning Jan. 9 on murder and weapons charges in the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd.
Hernandez faces separate murder and assault charges in a shooting on July 16, 2012, that left two men dead and another wounded. That trial is currently scheduled to start May 28, but a judge has already agreed to push it back, although no new date has been set.
Lloyd, a semipro football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee, was gunned down in a field about half a mile from the player's mansion in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, which is southwest of Boston.
Judge E. Susan Garsh, who is presiding over the upcoming trial, scheduled a hearing Dec. 12 to consider the new defense motions.
In all, Hernandez's lawyers filed three motions seeking to exclude evidence of "bad acts," evidence that is unfairly prejudicial to the player, and evidence they argue is "irrelevant" and inadmissible from the jury's consideration.
Evidence of Hernandez's so-called "bad acts" that his lawyers want withheld from the jury include details about the double-murder in Boston; about guns linked to the player that were purchased in Florida and allegedly transported to Massachusetts by another man; about a confrontation involving him and Jets fans outside a Providence, Rhode Island, nightclub in May 2013; about a rifle and ammunition found in his home; about a pistol found in the woods not far from his house; and about a shooting in Florida in February 2013 that Hernandez has been accused of in a civil lawsuit. In addition, his lawyers want to keep the jury from being shown a photograph of Hernandez, first published by the celebrity gossip website TMZ, that depicts him holding what has been identified as a Glock pistol.
Investigators believe Lloyd was murdered with a Glock.
Hernandez's lawyers also want the judge to order prosecutors to file detailed information on 22 other pieces of "bad acts" evidence.
"The 30 alleged 'bad acts' the Commonwealth seeks to present evidence about at the defendant's upcoming murder trial encompass a cornucopia of alleged activities including other shootings, gun trafficking, firearms possession, drug use, a drunk driving arrest, a 2009 photograph and even a fender bender," Hernandez's lawyers wrote in their motion. "If permitted to introduce all or even much of this evidence, the Commonwealth will have succeeded in transforming a murder trial into a wide-ranging, collateral attack on the defendant's personal history, character, lifestyle, and propensities."
Defense attorneys Michael Fee, Charles Rankin and James Sultan contend evidence of Hernandez's "alleged gang membership and his body tattoos" falls into the category of "irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial."
They also contend that the judge should exclude other evidence under the heading of "irrelevant and otherwise inadmissible." That includes recordings of phone calls involving others who have been linked to Lloyd's death, phone calls involving Hernandez's cousin, letters sent to him in jail, evidence about his cousin's refusal to testify before a grand jury and jail "video surveillance pertaining to assault on inmate and threat to correctional officer" — both incidents for which the former player has been indicted.
Prosecutors still have a chance to file documents opposing the motion, and Judge Garsh will hear arguments at next week's hearing.
Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez, angered at Lloyd after an incident at a nightclub in Boston, summoned two friends from his hometown of Bristol, Connecticut, to the player's mansion in North Attleboro late on the night of June 16, 2013. At the same time, according to court documents, Hernandez allegedly contacted Lloyd and arranged to pick him up at his home in the Dorchester section of Boston for a night out.
Hernandez, joined by Carlos Ortiz, 28, and Ernest Wallace Jr., 42, allegedly drove to Boston to pick up Lloyd, and then returned to North Attleboro, pulling into a secluded field in an industrial park that was surrounded by trees and piles of gravel and asphalt.
There, Lloyd was gunned down with multiple shots from a .45-caliber handgun.
Ortiz and Wallace have also been charged with murder in Lloyd's death under a legal theory known as "joint venture." Prosecutors have asserted in court that Hernandez orchestrated the killings, but they have not divulged their theory of the crime — including their belief about who fired the fatal shots — and don't have to until they present their case at trial.
To convict someone of murder, it is necessary to show that person was involved in the crime, but not that he or she actually carried out the killing.
Hernandez was arrested in Lloyd's death eight days after the man's body was found. The Patriots cut him hours later, and he has been behind bars without bail since.
In the Boston case, Hernandez has been charged with multiple counts of murder and assault in the deaths of Brian de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Furtado, 28, and the wounding of a third man. Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez, angered that de Abreu bumped him on a nightclub dance floor and spilled his drink, seethed for more than an hour before he saw them leaving the club. At that point, Hernandez allegedly circled the block several times waiting for the men to emerge from a parking garage, followed them several blocks, and then opened fire on their vehicle as they sat at a traffic light.
Hernandez was not identified as a suspect in that case until after he was arrested in Lloyd's death.