Fate of ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez in hands of jury
FALL RIVER, Mass. - The fate of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is now in the hands of the jury.
The jurors were handed over the case Tuesday afternoon following the conclusion of closing arguments and instructions from the judge. The jury was made up of 15 people, but three were randomly chosen as alternates before deliberations began.
CBS Boston reports the three alternates are females. Seven women and five men will be tasked with deciding whether Hernandez is guilty.
Hernandez is accused in the June 17, 2013, death of Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. Lloyd was shot six times and died in an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez's home. At the time, the star tight end had a $40 million contract with the Patriots.
During closing arguments Tuesday, the defense acknowledged for the first time that Hernandez was at the scene of a killing and saw it happen. Still, defense attorney James Sultan urged the jury to find Hernandez not guilty, saying Hernandez was just a kid who simply didn't know what to do.
"Did he make all the right decisions? No," Sultan said. "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, so he just put one foot in front of the other."
Sultan pinned the killing on Hernandez's co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz. Both men have pleaded not guilty and will be tried later.
Assistant District Attorney William McCauley said Hernandez's behavior after the crime showed that he was involved. He cited evidence that Hernandez had rented a car for Wallace and directed his fiancee to give the two men $500 to flee, as well as surveillance video from inside Hernandez's home that showed him hanging out with them a few hours after Lloyd was killed.
He urged jurors to go through all the evidence and convict Hernandez.
In addition to the murder charge, the jury will decide Hernandez's guilt or innocence on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Sultan spent several minutes of his closing arguments asking jurors to forget what they have heard about Hernandez in the media and outside the courtroom. Hernandez also faces murder charges in a separate case involving the death of two men.
Sultan pointed out that prosecutors never presented a clear motive for why Hernandez would kill Lloyd, saying they were friends and future brothers-in-law and that there was no evidence he would have wanted Lloyd dead.
He also said investigators unfairly fixated on his client, presuming his guilt and finding what they could to support that theory.
The trial featured hundreds of pieces of evidence and testimony from 135 witnesses - 132 of them called by the prosecution.
Prosecutors said Hernandez and two friends drove to Boston to pick up Lloyd at his home, then drove him to the industrial park in North Attleborough and killed him.
Surveillance video at Hernandez's home minutes after the shooting showed him holding a black item that appeared to be a gun. A joint found near Lloyd's body had Hernandez's and Lloyd's DNA on it.