Jury starts first full day of deliberations in Hernandez trial
Aaron Hernandez Trial
Wednesday, April 8
The jury in the trial of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez started its first full day of deliberations on Wednesday.
Five men and seven women will decide the fate of Hernandez, who is charged with one count of murder and also faces weapons charges in the death of 27-year-old semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins.
The jury is required to come back with a unanimous verdict for the state to convict Hernandez and have three charges to consider: murder, illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.
Hernandez, 25, faces life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder. He can also be convicted of second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
At one point during Wednesday's deliberations, the jury asked for a list of the 439 exhibits that were presented during the trial.
Closing arguments were delivered Tuesday. The defense acknowledged for the first time that Hernandez witnessed the death of Lloyd, but said that either one or both co-defendants, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, committed the crime.
Ortiz and Wallace have pleaded not guilty and will be tried later.
The prosecution placed the blame squarely on Hernandez, saying he shot Lloyd six times and left his body in an industrial park less than a mile from his home.
Last Thursday, the prosecution rested after spending the better part of two months presenting a case against Hernandez.
During the almost three-month trial, more than 130 witnesses took the stand.
Massachusetts state medical examiner Dr. William Zane was the prosecution's final witness. He detailed the gunshot wounds that killed Lloyd on June 17, 2013, saying he was shot six times: two bullets to the chest, with bullets also striking Lloyd's clavicle, stomach, collarbone, back and forearm.
Zane testified that three of the shots were fatal and that Lloyd would have been dead within minutes.
Last Wednesday, the jury heard testimony from Alexander Bradley, a man who sued Hernandez over allegedly being shot in the face in a February 2013 incident in Florida. That shooting took place five months before the murder of Lloyd.
Prosecutors were not allowed to ask about the Florida shooting. Bradley detailed Hernandez's marijuana habits as well as the nature of their relationship.
Bradley also described a black box he saw in Hernandez's basement containing a firearm, money and marijuana. However, under cross-examination, Bradley said the gun he saw in the box was not a glock, which was the weapon used to kill Lloyd.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft took the stand during the trial and testified that Hernandez told him he had nothing to do with Lloyd's murder.
Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, took the stand and said that Hernandez was drunk during the hours before Lloyd's killing. During her testimony, Jenkins discussed a box that Hernandez told her to dispose the day after Lloyd was killed. Hernandez did not give her a reason why the box—which was in the basement—needed to be discarded, only saying it was important that she throw it away.
Jenkins, who said she has known Hernandez since they were in elementary school, testified that she thought the box smelled like marijuana. She said she put the box in a trash bag and discarded it in a random dumpster.
• TRIAL COVERAGE: Opening statements | Day 31 | Day 32 | Day 33
Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez and two other individuals drove Lloyd to an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez’s residence, where he was shot multiple times.
Hernandez is also charged separately with two counts of murder, three counts of assault with intent to commit murder and a weapons charge in the 2012 deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
Authorities say that Hernandez shot de Abreu, Furtado and one other man after one of them spilled a drink on him at a nightclub.
- Scooby Axson
