National Football League

Aaron Hernandez trial expected to go to jury next week

Published Apr. 2, 2015 10:47 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Vincent Frank

It’s been about two months since the prosecution started to state its case to the jury in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial. Those two months were filled with damning evidence linking the former New England Patriots tight end to the murder of Odin Lloyd back in 2013.

After 39 days of testimony and a whopping 131 witnesses, the prosecution has rested its case against Hernandez. This means that the defense will have an opportunity to actually defend its client against the charges. That opportunity will not come until Monday due to the Good Friday holiday.

It is expected that the defense will need just one day to present its case. With closing arguments normally not taking up a lot of time, the case should go to the jury some time next week.

The judge proceeding over the trial, E. Susan Garsh, indicated as much in open court on Thursday.

Evidence has been mounting in open court that Hernandez was involved in the murder of Lloyd. Testimony from Patriots owner Robert Kraft last week told us a story of Hernandez lying to his former boss. That coupled with testimony from Hernandez’s fiancee has helped make the prosecution’s case.

With all that said, the onus is not on the defense here. The only question that needs to be asked is whether the prosecution proved his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Even if Hernandez is found not guilty, he still faces trial on double murder charges in the state in a separate incident.

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