The murder case against former Patriot tight end Aaron Hernandez seems to weaken by the day.
First, former retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Isaac Borenstein explained why the case against Hernandez may not necessarily be a slam dunk. Now, it seems that one of Hernandez’s associates who had been helping police with the investigation could be done cooperating, according to MyFoxBoston.com.
Police have said there were two men, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, with Hernandez on the day of Odin Lloyd‘s murder. Ortiz is charged with being an accessory after the fact in connection with the murder, and he’s told detectives on the record that Hernandez alone got out of the car with Lloyd when Lloyd was executed in North Attleboro. The prosecution would likely want Ortiz to give those details to a jury, but Ortiz’s lawyer, John Connors, suggests he may be of no help in the courtroom.
“I have no control over whether he will be called as a witness, he does have a Fifth Amendment privilege and that’s about all I can say on that, Connors said in a telephone interview Wednesday with Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Many of the complications of the case stem from the fact that there were a number of people alleged to be involved in the event, all with varying stories. It’s unclear to police who was actually involved in the killing and who was merely an accessory to the crime.
If Ortiz is indeed done cooperating, Wallace would be the only other possible eyewitness to the murder.
