Indicted for Lloyd murder
A grand jury indicts Hernandez and two other people connected to him, for first-degree murder and weapons charges. He is currently being held without bail and faces life in prison, if convicted. Some of the evidence against Hernandez includes a security-camera image of him holding a gun, video of a Nissan he rented near the crime scene, and text messages. Carlos Ortiz, a friend who is being held on a gun charge, has told police that he stayed in the Nissan when Hernandez, Lloyd, and Ernest Wallace got out. According to court documents, Ortiz heard gunshots and then only Hernandez and Wallace got back in the car. Wallace has been indicted as an accessory after the fact, and Hernandez’s cousin Tanya Singleton has been charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify before the grand jury after she received immunity.
Cousin pleads not guilty to conspiracy charge
Tanya Singleton, Hernandez’s cousin, pleads not guilty to charges that she helped one of his friends flee to Florida after the June 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. Singleton, along with Hernandez, his fiancee and two of his friends, face charges related to Lloyd’s death. She agrees to be held without bail for the conspiracy charge, as well as for a second contempt charge after refusing to testify before the grand jury hearing evidence in Hernandez’s case, and can request a bail hearing at a later date.
Back in jail
0 CommentsAfter a brief stay in the hospital over the weekend, Hernandez returns to his jail cell at Bristol County House of Corrections in Massachusetts. Hernandez spent less than half an hour at a local hospital over the weekend. Due to HIPPA laws, the reason for the visit is not being disclosed.
Gag order request
0 CommentsHernandez’s lawyers request a gag order which will prohibit anyone with knowledge of the case from speaking about the case outside of the courtroom. Judge Jeffrey Locke does not make an immediate ruling on the request. The lawyers are concerned that Hernandez will not get a fair trial due to the excessive media coverage surrounding the three murders that Hernandez allegedly committed.
Judge says no to gag order
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke refuses to issue a gag order in the matter of the alleged murder of two people by Hernandez in 2012. The judge said he sees no sign that Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office had violated ethical rules for prosecutors by leaking information .
The Court is satisfied that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office is aware of and operates consistent with the restrictions imposed by the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, rendering a detailed order regarding extrajudicial statements unnecessary at this time.
Judge allows transfer
A judge rules that Hernandez can transfer to another jail to allow for easier access to his lawyers. He will leave the Bristol County facility in southern Massachusetts and be moved to a county facility closer to Boston, Massachusetts, where the alleged murders took place.
$5 million for victims’ families
A civil court judge allows the families of murder victims Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado to freeze up to $5 million of Hernandez’s mansion’s worth. He denied their bid for a court order that would block the Patriots from paying their former tight end a $3.3 million signing bonus. The attorneys for the family say:
That’s one skirmish. We’re going to go forward. All we can do is pursue money. There’s no way $3.3 million will bring back these two men, so this is what the system leaves us with.
New jail
Hernandez transfers from Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to the Nashua Street Jail in Boston, Massachusetts. A judge recently ruled in favor of the move so Hernandez could be closer to his attorneys.
Patriots will turn over records
The New England Patriots agrees to turn over 317 pages of Hernandez’s medical and personnel records. According to the team’s lawyer, the Patriots do not want to turn over a 2010 NFL combine report on Hernandez or scouting reports from 2009 and 2010. The team’s lawyer claims the defense is engaged in a “fishing expedition.” Hernandez’s attorney, Michael Fee, describes the combined report as a “psychological assessment” and said the defense was “looking for solid evidence about our client” that could help in Hernandez’s defense. After the hearing, Hernandez is transfered to the Nashua Street Jail in Boston.
Cousin in court
0 CommentsHernandez’s cousin, Tracy Singleton, appears in court for a status hearing on charges she faces for refusing to speak with law enforcement about the details surrounding a 2012 double homicide in Boston, MA that Hernandez is accused of committing. When first interviewed, she refused immunity and would not answer any questions. Prosecutors say the Toyota 4Runner found in the garage at her Connecticut home is the getaway vehicle that was used the night of the killings. Singleton is also facing contempt charges in the Lloyd murder case, for which Hernandez is awaiting trial, after refusing to testify before a grand jury. Prosecutors say Singleton helped Hernandez’s associates, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, leave the state after the murder.
Prosecution: fiance lied to grand jury
In a filing, the prosecution lists more than 12 instances that contradict what Hernadez’s fiance, Shayanna Jenkins, told a grand jury that was investigating the shooting of Odin Lloyd. Prosecutors say that most of Jenkins’ testimony is not credible, including the part about getting rid of a box from the basement of her and Hernandez’s North Attleborough, Massachusetts, home. Jenkins told grand jurors she couldn’t remember where she threw out the box, which she put in a trash bag, covered with baby clothes. In the recent filing, prosecutors claim they have direct evidence that contradicts Jenkins’ testimony:
concerning how, why and the manner in which she removed the items from the home
Jenkins has pleaded not guilty to perjury, and her attorney, Janice Bassil, has begun the process of having the charge dismissed.
Returns to court
0 CommentsHernandez returns to court today. Judge Susan Garsh hears arguments to suppress various recording devices that were taken from Hernandez’s home. The devices are a few cellphones, three iPads, a video recorder and a hard drive. The prosecutors believe the devices may have images on them that can be used as evidence. Previously, the judge denied a motion to suppress regarding the video recorder and hard drive, and now the focus is on what cellphones were covered in a search warrant. The judge is currently taking the motion to suppress under advisement.
Singleton pleads guilty to contempt
0 CommentsTanya Singleton, Hernandez’s cousin, pleads guilty to contempt for refusing to testify against him in front of a grand jury. Her attorney says she is dying of breast cancer. Prosecutors say Hernandez told her “not to say anything.” Singleton is sentenced to home confinement with GPS monitoring for two years. Judge Susan Garsh calls her refusal to testify an “affront to justice.”
Her health is the only reason she is not being placed in jail.
Evidence cannot be used
0 CommentsBristol County Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh prohibits prosecutors from using evidence found on two cell phones and three tablets taken from Hernandez’s home. Garsh cites omissions to search warrants prepared and conducted by state troopers, Michael Cherven and Michael Bates as “carelessness’.
Felt ‘helpless’ during police questioning
0 CommentsHernandez says he was worried about his fiancee and their child and felt helpless while police were searching his home the day after Odin Lloyd was murdered. In an affidavit he filed with Bristol Superior Court, Hernandez states:
I felt helpless in the face of the occupation of my house by the police. I was also very concerned about what would happen to my fiance [sic] and our baby if I refused to answer their questions. I did not feel free to leave at any time during the search.
The sworn statement, made public today, is the first time Hernandez has spoken publicly about the case. He also states:
Many of the officers carried weapons which were visible to me. Officers asked me a number of questions, including where my cellphone was and the password for my phone. I told them that my cell phone was with my lawyers and I told them the password. I was not given Miranda warnings at any point. I had told the police the night before that they should direct their questions to my attorneys, but they questioned me anyway. I know that my attorneys told police the night before that they should contact them, not me, with any questions, but the police ignored that, too.
Hernandez filed the affidavit as part of an effort to suppress evidence police derived from questioning him at his home during a June 18, 2013, search there. His lawyers argue:
That questioning occurred without appropriate Miranda warnings and after Hernandez had invoked his right to counsel. Accordingly, all fruits of his statements must be suppressed.
Judge throws out 35 pieces of evidence
0 CommentsStating there was insufficient evidence and the warrant police had to search Hernandez’s home was not for a wide-ranging search, Judge Susan Garsh will not allow 35 items to be used as evidence in the murder trial. She writes in an eight-page order:
There are no facts in the affidavit that tie either Hernandez or Ortiz in any way to the killing of Lloyd. The bald fact that the police may have conducted a lengthy investigation does not give rise to an inference that Ortiz’s cell phone may have some evidentiary value in furthering that investigation.
Judge allows cell phone evidence
0 CommentsJudge E. Susan Garsh denies the defense’s claim that Hernandez’s cell phone was given to Massachusetts State Police under “false claim of legal authority,” and she allows the prosecutors to include the recorded information from the cell phone around the time of the alleged murder of Odin Lloyd. In her decision, Garsh writes:
The turning over of the phone was a voluntary act. It was not the result of force, threat, trickery, duress or coercion.
She also ads that there was no evidence of “any physical control” over Hernandez by the police.
Model inmate
0 CommentsSuffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins says Hernandez is a model inmate. If the good behavior continues Hernandez will be given TV privileges so he can watch his team’s games. Since being moved to a Boston jail, Tompkins says there have been ‘‘no problems, no complaints.” He also says Hernandez is mingling with the general population at the facility. While in the Bristol jail, he had been confined to his cell 21 hours a day, was not allowed to watch football, and reportedly had a run-in with another inmate and threatened a guard.
Granted immunity
Jenkins is granted immunity in the murder trial of fiance Hernandez. CNN legal analyst Paul Callan:
It allows the prosecutor to force her to testify in front of the jury without taking the Fifth. If she lies, she can still be prosecuted for perjury because a grant of immunity never (immunizes) someone against committing perjury on the witness stand.
Judge disallows some testimony
Hernandez’s trial judge disallows some testimony from a Glock employee who claimed that surveillance video showed Hernandez was carrying a gun after the murder. The judge says the jurors may still consider the portion of the Glock employee’s testimony where he identifies the black object in Hernandez’s hand as a gun based on the back strap, but the jurors may not consider testimony about other characteristics, including a trigger guard and front strap. The defense says the object could have been a TV remote.