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Aaron Hernandez trial Q&A: Filling in the blanks as jurors deliberate

Published Apr. 8, 2015 11:40 a.m. ET

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An unpredictable waiting game began Wednesday as jurors in the Aaron Hernandez murder case returned to court to begin their first full day of deliberations.

The seven women and five men considering the charges against the former New England Patriots tight end have a lot to consider: the testimony of 135 witnesses and 439 exhibits, including roughly 2,500 pages of phone records and dozens of hours of surveillance videos and even the right rear tire off the rented Nissan Altima allegedly used in the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd.

They will have the digital video recorder from Hernandez’s own home surveillance system, which captured photos of him allegedly holding the murder weapon both before and after the killing, and detailed instructions on how to operate it so they can watch the footage if they want to.

While they work, here’s a look at some of the questions surrounding the case.

Q: What is the state’s allegation against Hernandez?

A: That the former NFL star grew angry with Odin Lloyd after an incident at a Boston nightclub and then, two days later, arranged to meet him late at night, ostensibly to “step” out. At the same time, Hernandez allegedly summoned two associates from his hometown of Bristol, Conn., to his own home in North Attleboro, Mass. The three of them then allegedly drove roughly an hour to Boston, where they picked up Lloyd, then returned to North Attleboro. There, Lloyd was shot and killed in a deserted gravel pit surrounded by mounds of soil, sand and asphalt.

Q: How did Hernandez and Lloyd know each other?

A: Lloyd was dating Shaneah Jenkins, the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, and was one of his main pot suppliers.

Q: What does the defense contend happened?

A: Defense attorney James Sultan acknowledged in closing arguments that Hernandez was present when Lloyd was killed and witnessed the murder, but Sultan suggested that the two men with Hernandez, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace Jr., were high on PCP and that one of them experienced a sudden, violent outburst and killed Lloyd.

Q: What are the jury’s obligations and what are its options?

A: Jurors must reach a unanimous verdict on each of three separate charges: murder, gun possession and ammunition possession. If jurors do not believe Hernandez is guilty of first-degree murder, they have the option of convicting him of second-degree murder.

Q: What are the possible penalties?

A: First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Second-degree murder also carries a life sentence, but parole is possible after 15 years. Gun possession carries a mandatory minimum of 18 months behind bars, and sentences can be as long as five years. Ammunition possession carries a possible sentence ranging from probation to two years in jail.

Q: Do jurors have to conclude that Hernandez shot Lloyd to convict him of murder?

A: No. Under Massachusetts law, he can be convicted of murder if he was involved in the killing with the intent necessary to commit the crime.

Q: Why didn’t prosecutors call the other two men allegedly present at the scene of the murder?

A: Both Ortiz and Wallace have been charged with murder and will be tried separately. As such, each has a Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Additionally, prosecutors long ago concluded that Ortiz was utterly unreliable as a witness because key portions of his statements to police shifted over time. And Wallace has his own baggage: He’s a career criminal who fled to Florida after Lloyd's death.

Q: Besides Ortiz and Wallace, are others facing jail time in the case?

A: Yes. Hernandez’s cousin, Tanya Singleton, was held for eight months and sentenced to home confinement and probation for refusing to testify before a grand jury. Singleton, who has cancer, allegedly helped Wallace flee to Florida after the killing. And Hernandez’s fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, faces a perjury charge that alleges she lied 29 times in her testimony before a grand jury. That case remains unresolved, and if she were to be convicted, she could face a long prison sentence.

Q: What’s the feeling about what jurors will decide?

A: That it could go either way — prosecutors presented a detailed case, but defense attorneys also raised some important points. The murder weapon has never been found, and though prosecutors don’t have to prove a motive, the defense stressed repeatedly that it’s not clear why Hernandez might have been upset with Lloyd.

Q: If Hernandez is found not guilty of this murder, can he be charged with a different crime, such as accessory to murder?

A: No. The constitutional principle known as “double jeopardy” prevents a person from being charged twice for the same crime.

Q: If Hernandez is cleared in this case, does he walk out of jail a free man?

A: No. He is also being held without bail on a July 16, 2012 double murder in Boston. That case is scheduled to go to trail May 28, but that is expected to be pushed back, perhaps into the fall, perhaps into early 2016.

Q: What is the allegation in that case?

A: That Hernandez became enraged after a man bumped him on a nightclub dance floor, spilling his drink, and failed to apologize. Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez later followed the man and his friends as they drove away from the club, then pulled up next to their car at a stoplight and opened fire with a .38-caliber revolver, killing Daniel De Abreu, 29, and Safiro Furtado, 28, and wounding another man.

Q: What’s the outlook for that trial?

A: Legal observers believe that is a stronger case than the one in Lloyd’s killing — the murder weapon was recovered, there are eyewitnesses, and there is surveillance video that places Hernandez and the victims at the Boston club at the same time, and other footage that places Hernandez in a vehicle that was described by witnesses as the one used by the killer.

Q: Has Hernandez paid his lawyers?

A: His financial arrangement with attorneys Michael Fee, Charles Rankin and James Sultan isn’t known. What is known is that after Hernandez was indicted in the Boston killings, Rankin and Sultan filed paperwork in that case indicating that he was having trouble paying his attorneys and was trying to make arrangements to raise the necessary funds. They have filed no follow-up documents, so the question lingers. However, according to a civil suit filed by Lloyd’s family, last Sept. 9, Hernandez sold a condominium in Plainville, Mass., for $279,900.

Q: Does Hernandez have other legal troubles?

A: Yes. He faces another trial on allegations that he had a high-powered rifle, an illegal magazine and ammunition in his home when it was searched as part of the Lloyd investigation. And he has been indicted on an assault and battery charge in the wake of a jailhouse fight and on a charge of threatening a jail officer.

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