The judge in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial admitted a key piece of evidence on Friday morning that shows Hernandez destroying his own cell phone.
Shortly after he was arrested in connection to the murder of Odin Lloyd, Hernandez dismantled his phone. Surveillance video from a public parking lot allegedly shows Hernandez inside his car smashing the phone. ABC News reports that Superior Court Judge Susan Barth ruled that the video can be brought into evidence, as there was no invasion of privacy issue from surveillance footage in a public lot.
Hernandez’s lawyers had made a strong push to have the footage thrown out.
Back in December, Hernandez’s legal team scored some big victories when several key pieces of evidence — many of which are listed here — were thrown out. Since then, things have started to look a bit more shaky for the former New England Patriots tight end.
During their opening statements last month, the prosecution revealed that a marijuana joint near Lloyd’s body had Hernandez’s DNA on it. His DNA was also reportedly discovered on a bullet casing in a car he rented.
Perhaps more importantly, Hernandez’s girlfriend Shayanna Jenkins, who is also the mother of his child, has been granted immunity and can be forced to testify against the 24-year-old. Given all that has happened over the last two weeks, we doubt we’ll see Hernandez’s lawyer cracking anymore jokes like this in the courtroom going forward.
