Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez pleaded not guilty Friday to first-degree murder of his friend, Odin Lloyd, 27-year-old semipro football player, and five accompanying weapons charges at his arraignment for an indictment handed down by a Fall River grand jury two weeks ago.
Wearing a dark suit, Hernandez appeared for the 10-minute hearing in a packed courtroom before Judge Frances A. McIntyre, saying the words "not guilty" five times after a court clerk read the murder and weapons charges he is facing. Prosecutors and the defense agreed he will be held without bail until a hearing on Oct. 9.
"In a sense, this is like the opening kickoff," defense attorney Charles Rankin said. "We have a long way to go before the trial. We're confident at the end of the trial, Aaron will be exonerated."
However, Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said there is a "tremendous amount of evidence" in the case. "Otherwise we wouldn't have charged him with murder one and we wouldn't have asked the grand jury to vote on that indictment," Sutter said.
Lloyd's family sat on the right-hand side of the courtroom and Hernandez's supporters on the left, with a throng of local and national media looking on. Several members of Lloyd's family were escorted by police to a minivan and declined to speak with reporters. They wore purple clothing and buttons carrying his picture and the phrase "Legends Never Die."
Hernandez, 23, allegedly killed Lloyd, who was dating his fiancee's sister, Shayanna Jenkins, on June 17, 2013, because he was upset Odin had been been talking to people he didn't like. His body was found in an industrial park not far from Hernandez's home in North Attleborough, Mass.
Investigators have not explicitly said who fired the fatal shots, but court records filed in South Florida indicated that another man who was there that night, 25-year-old Carlos Ortiz, told authorities that Ernest Wallace, 41, called Hernandez the shooter.
Friday's arraignment comes as authorities continue to investigate Hernandez in connection with an unsolved 2012 double homicide case in Boston. A July 2012 video surveillance allegedly shows Hernandez at a nightclub at the same time as two men who were fatally shot that night. Boston police have said the men were inside a BMW that was sprayed with gunfire after they left the nightclub. Law enforcement sources said they believe Hernandez rented a silver SUV with Rhode Island registration that was linked to the scene of the double homicide.
After Lloyd's murder, Bristol, Connecticut, police discovered the vehicle by accident while searching the garage of Hernandez's uncle, a law enforcement source told CNN. Boston police had been looking for the vehicle for almost a year, law enforcement sources added. Hernandez has not been charged in the unsolved double shooting.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
