WEEK 3 CRIMINAL COURTS & SENTENCING

GOALS FOR CASE STUDY

AARON HERNANDEZ CASE
CJS/210 INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE
STEPHANIE DELOSSANTOS
DR. SHELIA WARD
MARCH 4,2024
INTRODUCTION
The case of Aaron Hernandez, former football star convicted of first-
degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Former
tight end for the New England Patriots Aaron Hernandez was sentenced
to life in prison without parole on April 15,2015 for first degree murder
charges. Hernandez was convicted of the murder charge of his fiancé's
sister boyfriend, 27-year-old landscaper and amateur football player
Odin Lloyd. He was also found guilty on firearm and ammunition
charges.
MAIN KEY PLAYERS
AARON HERNANDEZ- Convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced
to life without parole for the brutal killing of Odin Llyod.
ODIN LLOYD- Shooting victim, 27-year-old semi-pro football player who
was found shot to death on June 17,2013. Lloyd met Aaron Hernandez
while he was dating Shannon Jenkins the sister of Hernandez's fiance
Shayanna Jenkins Lloyd was last seen in a car with Hernandez and two
of Hernandez's acquaintances Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace after
partying with the three men earlier that night.
SHAYANNA JENKINS- Hernandez's fiancé & mother to his young
daughter. Jenkins pleaded guilty to obstruction charges after refusing
to testify in front of two different grand juries about what she knew
about weapons in Hernandez’s home. After a challenge from the
prosecution office the judge ruled that she along with Hernandez's
mother Terry Hernandez will be allowed to sit in the gallery during the
murder trial even though she will likely be called as a witness.
EARNEST WALLCE- 42 and acquaintance of Hernandez is also charged
with murder in the death of Odin Lloyd and has also pleaded not guilty
Wallace is reported to have played on an uncle like row and
Hernandez's life prosecutors have called him the muscle man for
Hernandez. He was last seen in the surveillance video in a car with
Hernandez Lloyd and Ortiz on the night Lloyd was killed.
CARLOS ORTIZ- 27 is also charged with murder in the case and has
pleaded not guilty both trials for Ernest and Ortiz for presume after
Hernandez's case
TANYA SINGLETON- Hernandez's older cousin became entangled in the
high-profile murder case due to her alleged involvement in helping her
famous cousin cover up his crimes she became involved in a case after
accusations arose that she might have helped Hernandez and his
accomplices Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz Singleton allegedly tried to
help Wallace and Ortiz Escape after Lloyd's murder.
Prosecutors release the list of over 200 potential Witnesses they may
call during trial including Hernandez's mother and brother Patriots head
coach Bill Belichick Patriots team owner Robert Kraft and Alexander
Bradley a former friend of Hernandez who said the ex-NFL star for
allegedly shooting him in the eye during an incident in Florida.
Bristol County Mass prosecution began the trial facing four main
obstacles one case built on circumstantial evidence to node missive
motive 3 pretrial rulings limited incriminating evidence for Hernandez's
assembled a top legal team the court charge Hernandez for killing of
Odin and the illegal ownership of weapons he got sentenced to prison
for life without parole there was no motion for change of venue for
murder case of Lloyd actions for change of the venue allows defendants
to request for a child to be in another place except the county of the
crime they ended his trial and a supreme court on April 15th 2015 with
a guilty verdict and send it to life in prison without parole Hernandez
did have a pretrial and his legal defense team scored a win. The gun
used in the murder wasn't found and no potential eyewitnesses to the
murder testified the prosecution built their case using circumstantial
evidence including all phone records DNA surveillance footage and
various other evidence discovered at the crime scene Hernandez's
defense attorney alleged the prosecution investigation was biased and
botched as well as incompetent from the beginning defense team
argues that the evidence wasn't significant to establish his guilt Beyond
A Reasonable Doubt the Supreme Court restored his conviction the
reason why this happened because of Judge determined that a prisoner
dies during the process of an appeal in the eyes of the law they are no
longer guilty the Supreme Court later decided against the law and
changed the rule for future cases Massachusetts had jurisdiction during
the crime being committed in this in the state and it got to the Supreme
Court.
CONCLUSION
A life sentence for Aaron Hernandez as his sentencing in the Bristol
Supreme Court mandatory life without parole possibility of parole
Hernandez expression after the guilty verdict was announced by the
jury for a person he sat down with his head shaking after this verdict
was announced Hernandez was taken to MCI Cedar Junction less than 2
miles away from the place he used to play when he was with the
Patriots district attorney Thomas Quinn said Aaron Hernandez may
have been a well-known New England Patriots football player however
in the end the jury found that he was just a man who committed a
Bruno murder on April 19th 2017 Hernandez was found hanging from a
bed sheet tied around the bars of a window in the cell at Souza-
Baranowski in central Massachusetts it was ruled a suicide Hernandez
left a letter to his fiancé and young daughter he told Jenkins you're rich
which prosecutors and Lloyd's case believed was a reference to
abaterment ab initio, the legal doctrine that conviction if a defendant
dies before his appeals are exhausted. Hernandez's arrest conviction
and death attracted a great deal of media intention especially because
of increasing concerns about CTE in athletes. His life was the focus of a
2018 Boston Globe Spotlight team investigation and a podcast called
‘Gladiator’ Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.

REFERENCES
Aaron Hernandez timeline: From murders and trials to prison suicide |
Sporting News
Aaron Hernandez Had Severe C.T.E. When He Died at Age 27 - The New
York Times (nytimes.com)
First-Degree Murder Conviction for NFL Star Aaron Hernandez | Risk
Free Consultation (sevenslegal.com)