Defense lawyer says Aaron Hernandez saw fatal shooting and 'didn't know what to do'
A lawyer for Aaron Hernandez acknowledged for the first time in closing arguments Tuesday that the former New England Patriots star had witnessed the slaying of Odin Lloyd in an industrial park near Hernandez’s home.
But James Sultan urged jurors hearing the Massachusetts first-degree murder case to find his client not guilty. He contended that Hernandez was stunned and left at a loss by the fatal shooting. He stated there was no motive for Hernandez to kill Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee, reports the Associated Press
“Did he make all the right decisions? No,” said Sultan. “He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something, a shocking killing, committed by someone he knew.”
A lead prosecutor in the Bristol case, however, urged the jury to find Hernandez guilty, arguing that he had planned the murder, reports the Boston Globe. Hernandez texted Lloyd, took two associates with him to pick Lloyd up, drove the group to the industrial park and then stepped out of the driver’s seat, as shoe prints show. Then Hernandez shot Lloyd multiple times with a .45-caliber Glock pistol, said first assistant district attorney William McCauley.
The remaining trio then went to Hernandez’s home, where surveillance footage shows him holding the pistol as if it were a trophy, McCauley said. “He is waltzing around the house with it.”
The two other men allegedly present with Hernandez at the slaying scene will be tried separately.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Footprint, DNA links ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez to murder, gov’t says; defense cites lack of motive”
