Aaron Hernandez Is Denied Bail … Again
A Superior Court judge reviewed another court’s decision to keep Aaron Hernandez locked up while he awaits his trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd and agreed that jail is where the former Patriots tight end should stay.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty in Attleboro District Court on Wednesday to murder and several other gun-related charges. He was ordered held without bail, but he had a hearing at Bristol Superior Court today to revisit that decision. The prosecutor and defense attorney battled over the extent to which Hernandez posed a danger to his community and a flight risk. On the one hand, his lawyer James Sultan noted that he’s awfully recognizable, he has no criminal record, he has a fiancee and a small child, and he didn’t try to run when he was suspected but before he was charged. A prosecutor restated that they have a whole lot of evidence linking him to the crime, much of which they laid out at his arraignment, that his wealth gives him means to escape, and that a search of his car found the clip to a firearm. Judge Renee Dupuis agreed with the prosecution, saying the government had laid out “a very, very strong circumstantial case,” and so it’s back to jail for Hernandez.
The hearing comes on the heels of reports that a second man potentially connected to the murder of Odin Lloyd was arrested, though authorities are keeping quiet about his potential role in the killing. The man, Carlos Ortiz, lives in Hernandez’s hometown of Bristol, Conn. And meanwhile, Fox 25 and the Boston Globe both reported a widely picked up story alleging that Hernandez is being investigated in connection to a double murder last July in the South End. The Boston Police blog said at the time that witnesses saw a grey SUV with Rhode Island registration plates drive up and open fire on another car, hitting three passengers, and killing two of them. The Globe says Hernandez and others may have been in a fight with the victims the nightclub Cure earlier in the night. So far, authorities haven’t confirmed the report, but it all doesn’t add up to very good news for Hernandez.
