FALL RIVER, Mass. — Aaron Hernandez once was one of the New England Patriots’ biggest stars. A tight end who caught passes from Tom Brady and helped land his team a spot in the Super Bowl, he had a $40 million contract and fans willing to shell out $100 apiece for jerseys bearing his name and team number: 81.
On Friday, he goes on trial for murder. Those jerseys — indeed anything with a Patriots or NFL logo or even football-related insignia — have been banned from the courthouse by the judge overseeing the trial, a reflection of the sensitivity of the case and the intense interest in it.
Hernandez is accused of killing Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semiprofessional football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée. Lloyd was found shot to death June 17, 2013, in an industrial park near Hernandez’s home in North Attleborough. Also charged with murder are two of Hernandez’s friends: Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace. Prosecutors haven’t said who pulled the trigger but said Hernandez orchestrated the killing. Ortiz and Wallace will be tried separately.
More than 1,000 potential jurors are expected to fill out questionnaires Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Those answers will be read by prosecutors and Hernandez’s defense team, who will tell the judge which jurors they hope to excuse. Those who remain in the pool will be questioned by the judge individually and out of the hearing of the media.
Each side has 18 peremptory challenges, which allows them to exclude a juror for any reason. Otherwise, lawyers will need to give a valid reason for asking a judge to exclude a juror. The questioning will continue until 18 jurors have been chosen.
Cameras aren’t allowed in the courthouse during jury selection but will be allowed once opening statements begin.
Of the 18 people selected as jurors, six will be alternates. Jurors will learn who’s an alternate before they begin deliberations; that process is done through a random lottery by selecting numbers from a wooden basket.
The trial, expected to last six to 10 weeks, will not be the end of Hernandez’s legal troubles. He faces separate murder charges in Boston, where he is accused of killing two men after one of them accidentally spilled a drink on Hernandez at a nightclub. The trial date has not yet been set.
Thumbnail photo via Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
