Photo by: Ted Fitzgerald
By: Bob McGovern
Potentially tougher legal battles likely lie ahead for former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez, who faces a double-murder charge in Boston and numerous civil suits - even as he awaits a jury's decision in the largely circumstantial first-degree murder case in Fall River.
"At least on paper, Suffolk County looks like it has the stronger case," said Brad Bailey, a criminal defense attorney who is not involved in the Hernandez cases. "There's no question that Aaron Hernandez is in a situation where he could be going from the frying pan to the fire."
Hernandez, charged with the 2012 murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Suffolk County, is waiting for a verdict in Bristol County, where he is charged with the 2013 murder of Odin L. Lloyd.
Jurors enter their sixth day of deliberations in Fall River today and could stick the former tight end with a first-degree murder conviction that would put him behind bars for life, without the possibility of parole.
Unlike the Bristol County case, in which prosecutors were left with mostly circumstantial evidence, the Boston murder trial will likely have more hard evidence. Suffolk prosecutors have said they have the murder weapon, surveillance footage and eyewitnesses who can peg Hernandez as the murderer.
"There's definitely a tougher row to hoe in Boston because you have direct, eyewitness testimony, video surveillance and the firearm," Bailey said of the defense task.
One constant will be the testimony of Hernandez's former right-hand man, Alexander Bradley. He testified about Hernandez's guns in the Bristol County case, but up in Boston, he could be a much stronger witness.
According to court documents, Bradley was with the former tight end the night de Abreu and Furtado were murdered. Surveillance tapes show the former friends at Cure, a Boston nightclub, before the murder. Prosecutors say de Abreu unintentionally bumped into Hernandez at the club and failed to apologize.
Prosecutors say Hernandez later followed the men and fired at least five shots into a car, killing de Abreu and Furtado and injuring Aquilino Freire. Investigators believe Bradley was in the SUV with Hernandez and is ready to testify. Freire has already spoken to authorities about the night.
Original article available in full at: Boston Herald
Photo by: Ted Fitzgerald
Potentially tougher legal battles likely lie ahead for former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez, who faces a double-murder charge in Boston and numerous civil suits - even as he awaits a jury's decision in the largely circumstantial first-degree murder case in Fall River.
"At least on paper, Suffolk County looks like it has the stronger case," said Brad Bailey, a criminal defense attorney who is not involved in the Hernandez cases. "There's no question that Aaron Hernandez is in a situation where he could be going from the frying pan to the fire."
Hernandez, charged with the 2012 murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Suffolk County, is waiting for a verdict in Bristol County, where he is charged with the 2013 murder of Odin L. Lloyd.
Jurors enter their sixth day of deliberations in Fall River today and could stick the former tight end with a first-degree murder conviction that would put him behind bars for life, without the possibility of parole.
Unlike the Bristol County case, in which prosecutors were left with mostly circumstantial evidence, the Boston murder trial will likely have more hard evidence. Suffolk prosecutors have said they have the murder weapon, surveillance footage and eyewitnesses who can peg Hernandez as the murderer.
"There's definitely a tougher row to hoe in Boston because you have direct, eyewitness testimony, video surveillance and the firearm," Bailey said of the defense task.
One constant will be the testimony of Hernandez's former right-hand man, Alexander Bradley. He testified about Hernandez's guns in the Bristol County case, but up in Boston, he could be a much stronger witness.
According to court documents, Bradley was with the former tight end the night de Abreu and Furtado were murdered. Surveillance tapes show the former friends at Cure, a Boston nightclub, before the murder. Prosecutors say de Abreu unintentionally bumped into Hernandez at the club and failed to apologize.
Prosecutors say Hernandez later followed the men and fired at least five shots into a car, killing de Abreu and Furtado and injuring Aquilino Freire. Investigators believe Bradley was in the SUV with Hernandez and is ready to testify. Freire has already spoken to authorities about the night.
Original article available in full at: Boston Herald
Potentially tougher legal battles likely lie ahead for former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez, who faces a double-murder charge in Boston and numerous civil suits - even as he awaits a jury's decision in the largely circumstantial first-degree murder case in Fall River.
"At least on paper, Suffolk County looks like it has the stronger case," said Brad Bailey, a criminal defense attorney who is not involved in the Hernandez cases. "There's no question that Aaron Hernandez is in a situation where he could be going from the frying pan to the fire."
Hernandez, charged with the 2012 murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Suffolk County, is waiting for a verdict in Bristol County, where he is charged with the 2013 murder of Odin L. Lloyd.
Jurors enter their sixth day of deliberations in Fall River today and could stick the former tight end with a first-degree murder conviction that would put him behind bars for life, without the possibility of parole.
Unlike the Bristol County case, in which prosecutors were left with mostly circumstantial evidence, the Boston murder trial will likely have more hard evidence. Suffolk prosecutors have said they have the murder weapon, surveillance footage and eyewitnesses who can peg Hernandez as the murderer.
"There's definitely a tougher row to hoe in Boston because you have direct, eyewitness testimony, video surveillance and the firearm," Bailey said of the defense task.
One constant will be the testimony of Hernandez's former right-hand man, Alexander Bradley. He testified about Hernandez's guns in the Bristol County case, but up in Boston, he could be a much stronger witness.
According to court documents, Bradley was with the former tight end the night de Abreu and Furtado were murdered. Surveillance tapes show the former friends at Cure, a Boston nightclub, before the murder. Prosecutors say de Abreu unintentionally bumped into Hernandez at the club and failed to apologize.
Prosecutors say Hernandez later followed the men and fired at least five shots into a car, killing de Abreu and Furtado and injuring Aquilino Freire. Investigators believe Bradley was in the SUV with Hernandez and is ready to testify. Freire has already spoken to authorities about the night.
Original article available in full at: Boston Herald