FALL RIVER, Mass. -- The jury in Aaron Hernandez's murder trial entered its first full day of deliberation Wednesday, after spending nine weeks listening to police officers, friends of the former football player and the owner of the New England Patriots testify about the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd.
The seven women and five men on the jury began deliberating late Tuesday, after Bristol County Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh spent an hour giving them instructions about how to evaluate the case and what the government must have proved in order for them to find Hernandez guilty of the three counts contained in his indictment: murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition.
Lawyers spent the next several hours organizing the 439 exhibits in the case before sending the evidence into the jury room just before 11 a.m. Wednesday. Within an hour, the jury sent a note to the court asking if there is a list of evidence they can reference during deliberations.
Defense attorney James Sultan said that most of the exhibits are photographs and it would be prejudicial to give the jury a list describing what the photos descript, or to provide detail "other than a list that just says photo, photo, photo."
"Regrettably, the answer should be that the jury should not receive an exhibit list," Sultan said.
Bristol County Assistant District Attorney William McCauley suggested a list that only provided generic information, and defense lawyers agreed to a list that omitted specifics.
During instructions, Garsh reminded jurors that the state does not need to prove that Hernandez personally committed to act or even that he intended to do so. Two of the former Patriots' tight end's Bristol, Conn. hometown friends are also charged in Lloyd's murder. The state must prove knowing participation and intent.
In presenting their case against Hernandez, prosecutors focused on the former Patriots tight end's "consciousness of guilt" after the slaying, accusing him of destroying evidence and helping his friends flee Massachusetts. Garsh reminded jurors that Hernandez was "not obligated to report a crime or volunteer information about a crime to police."
On the verdict slip for murder, jurors must select between not guilty, guilty in the first degree, and guilty in the second degree.
Jury selection in the case began Jan. 9, and a panel that included several alternates was seated by the end of the month. The jury began deliberating in the tenth week of the trial since opening statements Jan. 29.
Copyright 2015, Hartford CourantSource: http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-aaron-hernandez-murder-trial-deliberations-20150408-story.html
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