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Commonwealth vs. Aaron Hernandez University of Maryland Global Campus CCJS 230-6380 Ashley Johnson 07/08/2021

A. Introduction

On July 17, 2013 the body of semi-professional football player, Odin Llyod was found in an industrial park located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. This location being very close in proximity to the residence of ex-NFL player, Aaron Hernandez (Haislop & Steele). Aaron Hernandez had been arrested in connection with the death of Odin Llyod. Hernandez was charged on one count of first-degree murder, one count of carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of possession of a large capacity firearm, and two counts of possession of a firearm without the proper identification card (Rodak, 2013). Hernandez was found guilty of the firstdegree murder charge and it carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The burden of proof is a party’s responsibility to prove an allegation, charge, or defense (Yourdictionary.com, 2010). The burden of proof consists of two parts: the burden of production and the burden of persuasion. The burden of production is the duty to present the evidence to a judge or jury. While the burden of persuasion, is a duty to convince a judge or jury to a specific standard, like beyond a reasonable doubt (Criminal Law 2015). Beyond a reasonable doubt can be described as after all comparisons and consideration of all pieces of evidence, the judge or jury have no doubt in the conviction or non-conviction of the charges (Commonwealth v. Webster, 1850. This was established from the evidence shown to the jury, that Hernandez was with the murder victim, Odin Lloyd that night. This included text messages between Hernandez and Lloyd; showing that they made plans with each other to go out. There was surveillance camera footage shown from within the Hernandez residence, where you could see Hernandez holding a firearm in his hand before leaving and upon the return to the residence (Commonwealth, 2014). Hernandez had left the residence in a Nissan Altima that was a rental

from an Enterprise location nearby. The keys to this Nissan weas found on the body of Mr. Lloyd and there was noticeable damage to the Nissan upon its return to the Hernandez residence that night (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2014, September 8). The Hernandez trial was very important to the prosecution of crimes in the United States, because it proved that no matter your social standing, you still needed to abide by the law. Also that consequences of not doing so doesn’t change due to your social stature. Aaron Hernandez was a known NFL player, that attracted lots of media attention. The court system worked like it is supposed to and was able to bring the justice to light that Odin Lloyd’s family deserved.

B. Opening Statements The prosecuting attorney, Patrick Bomberg, was the more convincing attorney during the opening statements in the Hernandez trial, in my opinion. His tone of voice was very defensive, and it made me feel as if he truly believed everything that he was stating. Whereas, the other attorney, Michael Fee, seemed a little lackluster. Bomberg gave a very detailed timeline of events, with evidence to prove that those events had actually happened. He pulled on the heart strings of the jury, by providing a picture of Mr. Lloyd and giving a in depth background on his life. Bomberg gave a very convincing argument, while Michael Fee did not (Aaron Hernandez Trial, 2015). I feel as if Patrick Bomberg gave the most facts during the opening statements of the trial as well. As stated above, he gave a very detailed timeline of events that happened years prior to the murder, the night of the murder and what happened after the murder. He showed text messages between Hernandez and the two other individuals in connection with the murder, as

well as text messages between him and Lloyd. He showed surveillance video of Hernandez at the club he attended that night with the Nissan rental car. There was also footage shown of that same rental car at the Hernandez residence and of Hernandez holding a firearm in his hand inside of his home. The other attorney gave no evidence during the opening statements, he just kept stating over and over that Aaron Hernandez was an innocent victim; doing so, in a very unconvincing manner. It’s as if Michael Fee, the defense attorney, kept trying to get the jury’s sympathy vote for Hernandez, but it seemed like he didn’t even believe what he was saying (Aaron Hernandez Trial, 2015). C. Establishing/Challenging a Prima Facie Case for Murder

There is one witness that I think helped establish prima facie of homicide for the prosecution, but also challenged a prima facie case for the defense unknowingly; this witness being, Anthony Bradley. Alexander Bradley is a former friend of Aaron Hernandez and was granted immunity to testify against Hernandez during his trial. Bradley stated that on July 15, 2012 he was with Hernandez in a night club, when two men, Safino Furtado and Daniel de Abreu, bumped into and spilt their drinks on Hernandez. He then explained that Hernandez became agitated and when they both went back to their car at the end of the night, Hernandez pulled out his gun and shot at the car the two men were sitting in as they were driving away. Furtado and Abreu both died from the gunshot wounds inflicted that night. Bradley testified that months after the incident, Hernandez became very paranoid and thought people were spying on him. After a heated argument between the two, Bradley had woken up to Hernandez pointing a gun in his face, Hernandez then shot Bradley between the eyes and left him to die. Bradley had survived the shooting but had lost his right eye (Levenson, 2017 March). The testimony of Alexander Bradley

helped prosecution establish that Hernandez did not seem like an innocent victim that the defense made him out to be. It may have made the jury feel unsure about Hernandez and his intentions. However, the defense did poke holes into the testimony and brought some information that did not do Bradley any favors. The defense argued that since Bradley was currently incarcerated on a five-year sentence for shooting up a Connecticut nightclub in February, 2014 he should not be trusted and that he had an agenda. The defense also was able to get Bradley to admit that he himself dealt drugs and owned several machine guns. The question was brought up that we may not be able to believe Bradley since he may have an incentive to get back at Hernnadez. This poked holes in his testimony, maybe creating uncertainty with the jurors (Levenson, 2017 April). D. Evidence

One major piece of evidence that was significant in establishing prima facie; was the Nissan rental car. This piece of evidence tied Aaron Hernandez not only to the murder scene but also to the murder victim, Odin Lloyd. Beside Odin Lloyd’s body, investigator found tire tracks and a key to rental car inside of Lloyd’s pocket. They traced this rental car back to the Enterprise location in North Attleboro, the city where Lloyd’s body was found. Officers asked an employee if the name Aaron Hernandez was familiar to them; the employee said that Hernandez frequently rented vehicles at this Enterprise. Enterprise then told officers that Hernandez just dropped off a vehicle that he had rented, and when returned, it had damaged to the driver side door and mirror. After viewing the car, investigators where able to determine that the tire tracks found at the crime scene matched the tires of the Nissan Altima that Hernandez had rented at the time. The key that was found in Lloyd’s pocket was known to be the key to the Nissan Altima as well (Commonwealth, 2014). This evidence helped

establish prima facie, by proving that the car that Hernandez had rented was at the location of the murder scene that night and that he had brought it back to the Enterprise himself to return it. E. Closing Arguments

In my opinion, I think that the prosecutions closing argument was more persuasive than the defenses closing argument. The prosecuting attorney gave lots of examples of evidence that prove Hernandez was guilty of murder. He mentioned that the defense attorney mainly focused on one thing during the entire closing argument, and that was Alexander Bradley (Aaron Hernandez, Prosecution 2017). The defense brought up how Bradley lied about what happened that night at the Cure Lounge; and their main argument to support this was that the Cure Lounge only had cameras at the entrance/exit (Aaron Hernandez, Defense 2017). The prosecution had a great rebuttal to this though, the attorney told the jury to think about everything that they had seen and heard during the trial and to pretend that everything that was connected to Bradley did not exist. He then began to show the jury the other evidence that was presented during the trial that still proved that Hernandez committed the murder, even without Bradley’s testimony (Aaron Hernandez, Prosecution 2017). F. Outside Factors

The only outside factor that I think could have affected this trial in anyway would be how the jury selection was handled. This is due to Hernandez’s occupation; since he used to play on the NFL team the New England Patriots, there could be a lot of people who are fans or who were not

fans of his. This outside factor could have made the jury selection take longer, since there could have been a good portion of people who knew of him. However, I don’t think this outside factor changed the outcome of the trial in anyway. G. Concluding Thoughts

The Aaron Hernandez trial is important to the study of criminal justice and criminal prosecution, because of how well known the defendant was. Aaron Hernandez was an NFL player for the New England Patriots with a 40-million-dollar contract and was known on a national level (Rodak, 2013). Even though he was considered a celebrity, he still had to go through the justice system just like anyone else would. There was no special treatment towards Hernandez; which I appreciated a lot. After reading the primary documentation, it made me realize how little clear-cut evidence there was that proved Hernandez committed the murder. The prosecution had to rely heavily on the burden of proof and the burden of persuasion to win this case.

References

Aaron Hernandez Trial Defense Closing Arguments. (2017). YouTube. https://youtu.be/_Qb8u8iPJx0. Aaron Hernandez Trial Prosecution Closing Arguments. (2017). YouTube. https://youtu.be/NnCIIeHpGQQ. Aaron Hernandez Trial - Day 1 - Part 1 (Opening Statements). (2015). YouTube. https://youtu.be/Nu2QGbGwpYU. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (2014, June 24). Commonwealth vs. Aaron Hernandez memorandum of decision and order on defendants’ motion to dismiss indictments 983-01 and 983-02. Bristol. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (2014, September 8). Commonwealth v. Aaron Hernandez Defendant's motion to suppress cellular telephone 203-606-8969 and fruits thereof. Bristol. Commonwealth v. Webster, 59 Mass. 295, 320 (1850), accessed September 26, 2010, http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/59/59mass295.html.

Haislop, T., & Steele, D. (n.d.). Aaron Hernandez timeline: From murders and trials to prison suicide. Sporting News. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/aaron-hernandeztimeline-murders-trials-prison-suicide/1886y82a8bgyx123qxcgg04lb5.

Levenson, E. (2017, April 6.). 'All of this is lies': Aaron Hernandez trial wraps up closing arguments. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/06/us/aaron-hernandez-trialclosing/index.html.

Levenson, E. (2017, March 20). Witness: Aaron Hernandez shot 2 men, then warned, 'Don't say nothing'. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/20/us/aaron-hernandez-trial-alexanderbradley/index.html.

Rodak, M. (2013, June 26). Murder charge for Aaron Hernandez. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/9424056/aaron-hernandez-new-englandpatriots-charged-murder.

University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing edition, 2015. . (2015, December 17). Criminal Law. 2.4 The Burden of Proof | Criminal Law. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sunycriminallaw/chapter/2-4-the-burden-of-proof/.

Yourdictionary.com, “Definition of Burden of Proof,” accessed September 26, 2010, http://www.yourdictionary.com/burden-of-proof....