A judge ruled on Friday to throw out more key evidence against Aaron Hernandez in the Odin Lloyd murder trial.
The Associated Press reports that the final text messages Lloyd sent to his sister the night he was killed cannot be used in Hernandez’s trial. Prosecutors previously pointed to text messages from Lloyd that were sent just minutes before he was killed that seemed to indicate he felt he was in danger. Defense attorneys called it “rank speculation” to assume that the texts indicated fear, and a judge has ruled that they are inadmissible.
One of the texts that Lloyd sent to his sister reportedly said “U saw who I’m with.” Two more messages that followed said “NFL” and “just so you know.”
In addition, the same judge ruled Friday that prosecutors cannot introduce the shooting of Alexander Bradley to the trial. Bradley, a former associate of Hernandez, has filed a civil suit against Hernandez claiming that the former NFL tight end shot him in the face during an argument last year.
Hernandez has also been indicted on two counts of first-degree murder stemming from a shooting that took place outside a Boston nightclub in 2012. That evidence is also inadmissible in the Lloyd trial.
And remember that infamous photo where Hernandez was posing with a gun? Prosecutors reportedly believe the gun he was holding could be the weapon that was used to kill Lloyd. But guess what? The photo is inadmissible.
Simply put, Hernandez’s attorneys have done a tremendous job to this point of getting key evidence thrown out before the trial begins. Jury selection is scheduled to take place in less than a month.
