Aaron Hernandez Murder Trial News Update: Jurors to See Former New England Patriot's Trophy Case During Tour of NFL Star's Home
Jurors in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial will get to see the former New England Patriots star's trophy case when they tour his Massachusetts home, the judge decided on Tuesday.
According to The Associated Press, prosecutors had asked Fall River Superior Court Justice Susan Garsh permission to cover the collection, which the Boston Globe reports also includes Hernandez's medals and college football jersey.
Assistant District Attorney William McCauley contended that the trophies might unduly impress jurors.
Garsh, however, agreed with Hernandez's lawyer, who said the house should be shown exactly the way it was at the time of Odin Lloyd's death, AP reports.
Hernandez is accused of fatally shooting Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was dating the sister of the NFL star's fiancee, on June 13, 2013. He has pleaded not guilty.
"This trial is about reality,'' defense attorney James Sultan argued. "The fact that Mr. Hernandez played for the Patriots -- that's in this case, that's part of this case, and we can't change that. The trial should be about the truth, about the truth of his house."
Putting a sheet over a trophy case could be considered "strategic manipulation," Garsh said. The judge allowed prosecutors to compare photographs and videos taken from inside the home since the time of the homicide to ensure no changes were made.
Prosecutors have scheduled the visit to Hernandez's house to retrace for the jury what they claim were Hernandez's actions in the hours leading up to Lloyd's death, the Hartford Courant reports. Their timeline has the football player leaving his house around 1 a.m., driving to Boston to pick up Lloyd and returning to his home two hours later by himself.
When they take jurors to Hernandez's house, prosecutors plan to stop at several cell phone towers to give them an idea of where Hernandez was when he placed phone calls during the night in question before Lloyd's body was found in a nearby park the next day.
Garsh also decided that the victim's mother, sister and girlfriend will be exempt from the witness sequestration order and allowed to attend the trial.
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