Aaron Hernandez found guilty of first-degree murder

Fencer said:

Typo alert

but not for the Odin Lloyd conviction but for the double murder conviction of the Danny Abreu and Safiro Furtado homicides is ungrammatical and also lacks a period at the end.

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Hopefully fixed

A thug for life,literally.

I was starting to have serious doubts for this first case.

The prosecution was concerned that Judge Garsh would show bias to the defense, as she has ruled with a liberal interpretation in the past, and their concerns certainly ended up having merit.

She threw out the context of the text messages, the ability for Bradley to speak about being shot in the face, and the whole entire motive in regard to the inability to make mention of the double homicide, which all made things much more interesting. Certainly a reminder that judge and jury selection play a big part, as well as all of the motions, some of which the state lost (understandably so, as @ctpatsfan77 points out).

In the end, their circumstantial evidence overcame the lack of 2/3: motive, weapon, body (the body being the exception, of course). Those "big three" are certainly important to any case, and for awhile there I thought he'd walk on this one and be found guilty on the next. Glad to see justice served.

supafly said:

I was starting to have serious doubts for this first case.

The prosecution was concerned that Judge Garsh would show bias to the defense, as she has ruled with a liberal interpretation in the past, and their concerns certainly ended up having merit.

She threw out the context of the text messages, the ability for Bradley to speak about being shot in the face, and the whole entire motive in regard to the inability to make mention of the double homicide, which all made things much more interesting.

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I can't speak for the text messages, but it isn't unreasonable to throw out the other stuff on the grounds that it would unfairly prejudice the jury to say "Oh, BTW, the defendant is accused of N other crimes."

Sometimes it Still doesnt feel this is real when i read about it or watch him on the news. He had it all. And blew it. Ill have to upload my tshirt pic, its funny it says just blew it with felony 81 on the back lol

The more I think about it, I think this case may not be over.

I thought it odd that the jury used "by reason of extreme atrocity or cruelty" as the justification for 1st degree. Having just seen the marathon bombing trial, the Hernandez murder seems a lot less shocking to me. I saw someone say that is perhaps grounds to appeal the sentence, get it lowered to 2nd degree which is not life imprisonment.

And if it gets downgraded to 2nd degree, then the second murder trial -- which seems superfluous right now -- could be very important.

ctpatsfan77 said:

I can't speak for the text messages, but it isn't unreasonable to throw out the other stuff on the grounds that it would unfairly prejudice the jury to say "Oh, BTW, the defendant is accused of N other crimes."

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Completely understood.

alamo said:

The more I think about it, I think this case may not be over.

I thought it odd that the jury used "by reason of extreme atrocity or cruelty" as the justification for 1st degree. Having just seen the marathon bombing trial, the Hernandez murder seems a lot less shocking to me. I saw someone say that is perhaps grounds to appeal the sentence, get it lowered to 2nd degree which is not life imprisonment.

And if it gets downgraded to 2nd degree, then the second murder trial -- which seems superfluous right now -- could be very important.

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The only reason they used that instead of the "and/or" with premeditation, was because it was easier for them to all agree upon that. They did not ALL agree upon premeditation. It's a fairly common procedure, as they have to come up with a reason that is "both/or."

In the end, I don't see how it will allow for anything to be overturned, and even if it somehow did, he's already screwed for everything else.

Here are some things in the 2nd case which they didn't have in the first: motive, weapon, and witness. They have a very solid case, so I can't see how it matters either way. Just my opinion, of course.

varjao said:

Maybe they are able to transfer AH and get another prisioner + a "next year pick" in exchange.

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The Massachusetts Department of Corrections is in negotiations with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety regarding an even up swap of Hernandez for Rae Carruth. Talks are stalled as North Carolina wants some money thrown in.

Well I'm glad at the verdict, normally I don't like to pass judgement but to me there's pretty much no chance he wasn't guilty. It still is painfully surreal to look at Hernandez in a courtroom despite the fact that I should be used to it by now. one of the most exciting pats I've watched on the field and through his interviews..... Obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer but seemed like a likable kid who turned a corner. Certainly had me fooled. Glad he will not get away with it.

PATSYLICIOUS said:

Well I'm glad at the verdict, normally I don't like to pass judgement but to me there's pretty much no chance he wasn't guilty. It still is painfully surreal to look at Hernandez in a courtroom despite the fact that I should be used to it by now. one of the most exciting pats I've watched on the field and through his interviews..... Obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer but seemed like a likable kid who turned a corner. Certainly had me fooled. Glad he will not get away with it.

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The civilian in me is glad he's locked up, but the fan of the game still thinks this sucks.

He was literally a 6ft1 240 lbs version of Welker that could have lined up anywhere on the field that presented a mismatch. I was actually one of the few on this board that thought he was going to be the one to duplicate Welker's production when he left.

But thats long gone now. There was no doubt to me he was the one to pull the trigger. He made his bed, now he needs to live with the circumstances.

AzorianPats said:

The civilian in me is glad he's locked up, but the fan of the game still thinks this sucks.

He was literally a 6ft1 240 lbs version of Welker that could have lined up anywhere on the field that presented a mismatch. I was actually one of the few on this board that thought he was going to be the one to duplicate Welker's production when he left.

But thats long gone now. There was no doubt to me he was the one to pull the trigger. He made his bed, now he needs to live with the circumstances.

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not only that, but we won a Super Bowl anyway!! hope that comforts the fan of the game in you

Chiuba E. Obele said:

not only that, but we won a Super Bowl anyway!! hope that comforts the fan of the game in you

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Of course it does!

alamo said:

The more I think about it, I think this case may not be over.

I thought it odd that the jury used "by reason of extreme atrocity or cruelty" as the justification for 1st degree. Having just seen the marathon bombing trial, the Hernandez murder seems a lot less shocking to me. I saw someone say that is perhaps grounds to appeal the sentence, get it lowered to 2nd degree which is not life imprisonment.

And if it gets downgraded to 2nd degree, then the second murder trial -- which seems superfluous right now -- could be very important.

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The Appellate Court only considers reasons for overturning verdicts on technical grounds, mistakes by a judge or misbehavior by prosecutors or jurors, they don't overturn because a jury determined a crime to be more a matter of cruelty than premeditation, jury's have that leeway. Judge Garsh bent over backwards to make certain this trial was appeal proof because she knew it came with the potential for mandatory review. Hernandez lawyers are very good at appeals but ran into a judge who is equally good at ensuring her trials won't be overturned. Hernandez can hope all he wants but there is very little likelihood it will be overturned.

A couple of comments on the comments

1. I was pleasantly surprised by the jurors' results when I first heard. I was getting worried that they weren't going to find him guilty. The fact is that although the circumstantial evidence was strong, the lack of the gun, motive, or much physical evidence could have made it tough to convict if you saw it that way.

2. I am a proud, born and bred, native of MA. We aren't perfect (see our driving ), but as a state, we've proven to be more often on the right side of things than not.

3. I was particularly proud of how our citizens handled the Boston Marathon Bombing and the next few days. There was no rioting or looting. The most stubborn and independent people in the country, actually obeyed the authorities and stayed offf the streets the next few days and allowed the criminals to be caught. There were no repercussions after their capture toward innocent Moslems, or Chechnyan's Boston Strong was more than just a logo on a tee-shirt

4. I felt that same pride when the verdict came out. It was clear to all who saw juror press conference that these were ordinary citizens who did their duty took it seriously and worked at it. Reporter after reporter couldn't say more about these people after hearing them out. Like many said, juries like this are what show why the jury system works" "The Jury system at its best", etc, etc "Clearly it wasn't about THEM, it was about the process"

5.Aaron Hernandez is a sad morality tale of a terribly wasted life. Regardless of the life he grew up into, there was no longer a need for him to still be in it at that stage of his life. I hope that at some point of his incarceration THAT realization strikes home. In the end it could simply be that the guy is a certified sociopath and he's where he best belongs.

6. Easy of critics to dump on the Pats that they should have known in advance. But the fact is that until his arrest, Hernandez had never missed a meeting, practice, or charitable obligation during his time with the Pats. It was like he had a double life that he kept separate.

7. The fact is that if the Pats hadn't drafted him, someone else would have within the next round and he would have shown the same success for some other team those first 2 years. And when it all blew up, like it did, there would have been the same kind of surprise, followed by the legion of "I told you so's", by the judgmental. mediots.

8

Galeb said:

Did any of them have big money lawyers?

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MitchKumstein said:

A legal expert was on WEEI before the trial began and was asked about how strong the circumstantial case could be against Hernandez.

He said that circumstantial evidence can go a long way in a trial. In fact, many times prosecuters prefer circumstantial evidence over eyewitness accounts.

Witnesses can lie.

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In MANY cases very expensive, high profile lawyers see their clients convicted on FAR less evidence than in the AH trial.

Posters here have a fundamental misunderstanding about circumstantial evidence, thinking of it as a negative. It is not. Witnesses often have credibility problems with juries.

I agree that the "big money" lawyers made a major tactical error finally saying that AH was at the murder but "the other guy did it" defense.

Now that verdict has been rendered, hopefully we all can put this behind us.

supafly said:

The only reason they used that instead of the "and/or" with premeditation, was because it was easier for them to all agree upon that. They did not ALL agree upon premeditation. It's a fairly common procedure, as they have to come up with a reason that is "both/or."

In the end, I don't see how it will allow for anything to be overturned, and even if it somehow did, he's already screwed for everything else.

Here are some things in the 2nd case which they didn't have in the first: motive, weapon, and witness. They have a very solid case, so I can't see how it matters either way. Just my opinion, of course.

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I think it is very difficult for a prosecution to prove premeditation when they are precluded from demonstrating the motive. Had the previous murder trial gone first it would have been much easier even though the texts still would have been excluded because Lloyd was obviously not available to explain them, which means the defense can't question them and denies them the opportunity challenge them which I'm sure we're the grounds for their exclusion.

PatsWickedPissah said:

In MANY cases very expensive, high profile lawyers see their clients convicted on FAR less evidence than in the AH trial.

Posters here have a fundamental misunderstanding about circumstantial evidence, thinking of it as a negative. It is not. Witnesses often have credibility problems with juries.

I agree that the "big money" lawyers made a major tactical error finally saying that AH was at the murder but "the other guy did it" defense.

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Especially when they had gone with the "Aaron was no where near the murder. He was at a night club at the time" defense prior to the last minute. Kraft even testified to Hernandez telling him that he hoped the time of the murder came out(opened up the question, how did he know the time?) because he was at a night club. You are really stretching the jurors trust when you first have someone testifying to Hernandez saying he wasn't there. To then say that he was. Really opens up the question "what else did he lie about?"

Typical Borges. He took shots at the Pats in his column in the Herald today about Hernandez. He even used the famous quote by Matt Light that Light claimed he never said and the reporter who wrote put words in his mouth. Of course Borges doesn't mention that.

I won't quote his column because I don't want to provide a link. It is shameless how he has repeatedly used the murder of Odin Lloyd to push his agenda against Belichick.