Aaron Hernandez' defense team is furious over what they believe to be a public spectacle in the court room as well as the press. The former New England Patriots tight end is on trial for a double murder in 2012 and his attorneys feel the prosecutor is playing out their case in front of the media and the jury. The prosecution's case revolves around a narrative of Hernandez as a paranoid man seeking revenge over a spilled drink and a perception of being tested and disrespected.
Hernandez' lawyer says that the prosecutors are trying to poison the jurors' minds and that the judge is letting them. He says that their one-sided account of the evening in question is painting Hernandez as automatically guilty and leaving the public and the courtroom to draw only one conclusion (via CNN):
"'There is no reason at all to have a speech by the district attorney's office about what they say the facts are, and the court has just played along with that,' Rankin said. 'This is not supposed to be a spectacle. This is not supposed to be a sporting contest.'"
So just what is the prosecution saying? The Suffolk County DA Daniel Conley says that on the night that Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado were fatally shot Aaron Hernandez took offense when Abreu allegedly bumped into Hernandez and spill his drink. According to police and the DA's office Hernandez then waited for the two men to leave the Cure nightclub before tracking them down and shooting their car up execution style.
The prosecution's case also alleges that Hernandez had begun to act paranoid in the weeks leading up to the alleged incident, believing that people were testing him and intentionally disrespecting him (via TMZ):
"Prosecutors say Aaron pulled up to Abreu's car at a stop light and said, 'Yo what's up now?' -- then fired all of the bullets in his gun, killing Abreu, his friend Safiro Furtado and wounding a 3rd passenger.
"Witnesses say they could hear Aaron continue to pull the trigger even after all of the bullets had been fired.
"Prosecutors say Hernandez then ADMITTED to the shooting to an associate saying, 'I think I got one in the head and one in the chest.'"
Hernandez will also stand trial for the 2013 murder of former associate Lyle Odin. While officials have not commented on any possible link between the killings, there has been outside speculation that the two incidents may be related.
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