National Football League

Hernandez's lawyers want to subpoena his records from Patriots

Published Jun. 17, 2014 5:48 p.m. ET

foxsports

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- Aaron Hernandez's lawyers want what they described in court papers as "extensive records" kept by the New England Patriots -- including documents potentially outlining psychological testing, drug and alcohol abuse, and medical treatment involving the team’s former Pro Bowl tight end.

Hernandez's lawyers filed documents in Bristol County Superior Court on Tuesday seeking a subpoena to force the team to turn over the records -- a day after they alleged in open court that the Patriots had ignored their earlier request for documents.

Hernandez's lawyers want the records as they prepare for trial in the June 17, 2013, murder of Odin Lloyd in North Attleboro, Mass.

The former star tight end is separately charged in the July 16, 2012, murders of two men in South Boston.

In the filing, Hernandez's lawyers wrote that the records held by the team "are potentially evidentiary and relevant in this case in that they may bear upon his circumstances and state of mind prior to the alleged offense, as well as his physical and mental state at the time."

Judge E. Susan Garsh, who is presiding over the case in Bristol County, has scheduled a hearing on the matter for July 9. If the team doesn't oppose the subpoena, Garsh indicated that she will sign an order for it at that hearing.

Hernandez played for the Patriots from 2010 through 2013. The team cut him June 26, 2013, just hours after he was arrested in Lloyd's killing.

Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez summoned two friends from his hometown of Bristol, Conn., to his mansion in North Attleboro, then drove the two of them to the Dorchester section of Boston, where they picked up Lloyd. Hernandez is accused of then driving the four of them back to North Attleboro, where Lloyd died.

A grand jury has also indicted the other two men alleged to have been present, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace Jr., on murder charges.

Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez "orchestrated" the killing because he was upset with Lloyd after a confrontation at a Boston nightclub several days earlier.

In their filing, Hernandez's lawyers wrote that "the Patriots maintained extensive records about Mr. Hernandez during the course of his employment, including, but not limited to, medical records and psychological test results."

Hernandez's lawyers wrote that they sent letters to the Patriots on July 13, 2013, and Sept. 12, 2013, requesting the documents and that they were accompanied by a release signed by the former player. However, they said, the team did not respond.

A Patriots spokesman declined a request for comment from FOX Sports.

In their request, Hernandez's attorneys said they were seeking documents outlining psychological testing, medications, X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, "drug or alcohol abuse-related records," physical therapy, scouting and "investigative reports."

Hernandez is due in court next week in Boston in the 2012 murders of Daniel de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Furtado, 28, and the wounding of another man. Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez, angry after he was bumped on a nightclub dance floor by de Abreu, followed the men and their friends and then opened fire on them at a South Boston intersection.