Dartmouth, Mass. (WPRI) — Just days ago, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Aaron Hernandez’s conviction in the 2013 murder of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd will stand.
The former New England Patriots star was found guilty in 2015 of killing Lloyd. Two years later and days after being acquitted of most charges in a separate double-murder case, the 27-year-old was found dead in his prison cell. The death was ruled suicide.
Now Bristol County House of Corrections Sheriff Thomas Hodgson is reacting to the ruling, saying the decision made is on record and should stand.
I don’t think you rewrite history and undermine a jury that comes back after hearing all of the evidence and says this is the case, simply because the person died. I think in fairness to the family of the victim you don’t erase that as though it didn’t matter. A jury decided on it, and look when you go to heaven you don’t get to appeal, or hell if you end up there, but the point is it’s what happened in time and that was what the decision was. So rewriting history after somebody dies is not necessarily I think the best way to come at it.
In 2017, a judge threw out Hernandez’s conviction citing a centuries-old common-law doctrine that allowed for convictions to be dismissed if a defendant dies during the appeals process.
