04-07-2015, 02:53 PM
CLOSING ARGUMENTS:
AARON HERNANDEZ IS JUST A KID TRAUMATIZED BY WHAT HE WITNESSED...
FALL RIVER — Aaron Hernandez “witnessed” the murder of the man he is accused of killing, his defense attorney said today in bombshell closing arguments to the jury that will decide the fate of the former New England Patriot star.
“He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something. A shocking killing. Committed by someone he knew. He didn’t know what to do,” said defense attorney James Sultan, during his 90-minute closing argument. “He just put one foot in front of the other.”
Sultan indicated that it was either co-defendants Ernest Wallace or Carlos Ortiz - but not Hernandez - who killed 27-year-old Odin Lloyd in a North Attleboro industrial park during the early morning hours of June 17, 2013.
“I want you to focus on what you know about Wallace and Ortiz and the fact that they took PCP,” Sultan said, “did one of them murder Odin Lloyd without Aaron Hernandez knowing about it?”
The acknowledgement that Hernandez saw the murder was the first admission by the defense in the nine-week trial that the former tight end was at the murder scene.
The case — which lacks a murder weapon, eyewitness or clear-cut motive — has hinged heavily on testimony, photos and video surveillance showing Hernandez with Wallace and Ortiz in the hours around the murder, as well as photos of sneaker prints that appear to match his at the site where Lloyd’s body was found.
Lead prosecutor William McCauley told the jury Hernandez was the mastermind behind the brutal killing. He said Hernandez controlled Ortiz and Wallace before the crime and then wielded his power over his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, after the fact.
“We could ask for nothing more from a jury, but we expect nothing less” than first-degree murder, McCauley said after his passionate, 90-minute closing.
Full story: http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion...ng_killing
AARON HERNANDEZ IS JUST A KID TRAUMATIZED BY WHAT HE WITNESSED...
FALL RIVER — Aaron Hernandez “witnessed” the murder of the man he is accused of killing, his defense attorney said today in bombshell closing arguments to the jury that will decide the fate of the former New England Patriot star.
“He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something. A shocking killing. Committed by someone he knew. He didn’t know what to do,” said defense attorney James Sultan, during his 90-minute closing argument. “He just put one foot in front of the other.”
Sultan indicated that it was either co-defendants Ernest Wallace or Carlos Ortiz - but not Hernandez - who killed 27-year-old Odin Lloyd in a North Attleboro industrial park during the early morning hours of June 17, 2013.
“I want you to focus on what you know about Wallace and Ortiz and the fact that they took PCP,” Sultan said, “did one of them murder Odin Lloyd without Aaron Hernandez knowing about it?”
The acknowledgement that Hernandez saw the murder was the first admission by the defense in the nine-week trial that the former tight end was at the murder scene.
The case — which lacks a murder weapon, eyewitness or clear-cut motive — has hinged heavily on testimony, photos and video surveillance showing Hernandez with Wallace and Ortiz in the hours around the murder, as well as photos of sneaker prints that appear to match his at the site where Lloyd’s body was found.
Lead prosecutor William McCauley told the jury Hernandez was the mastermind behind the brutal killing. He said Hernandez controlled Ortiz and Wallace before the crime and then wielded his power over his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, after the fact.
“We could ask for nothing more from a jury, but we expect nothing less” than first-degree murder, McCauley said after his passionate, 90-minute closing.
Full story: http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion...ng_killing