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Hernandez, 25, is charged with murder and firearms violations
in the death of Odin Lloyd, a semiprofessional football player
who was dating his fiancée's sister. If convicted, he faces a
maximum penalty of life in prison.
After calling more than 130 witnesses in a trial that began in
late January, attorneys jousted in closing arguments on Tuesday
with Hernandez's defense painting him as a witness to a
"shocking killing" and prosecutors claiming he brazenly
orchestrated the shooting.
"He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed ... a shocking killing
committed by somebody he knew," said defense attorney James
Sultan. "He really didn't know what to do. So he just put one
foot in front of the other."
Assistant District Attorney William McCauley said the former
tight end and two friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz,
picked up Lloyd at his Boston home before dawn on June 17, 2013,
and drove him to an industrial park near Hernandez's house in
North Attleboro, Massachusetts, where they shot him dead.
He said Hernandez had become angry at Lloyd two nights earlier
at a Boston night club, and that he "controlled every aspect of
that trip" the night of the murder.
"He believed he could kill Odin Lloyd and nobody would ever
believe that he was involved," McCauley said.
Wallace and Ortiz have also pleaded not guilty to murder charges
and will be tried separately.
Both Wallace and Ortiz used the drug PCP, according to a witness
and court documents, and the defense team has sought to link use
of the drug with violent behavior in an apparent attempt to
shift blame for the murder on the pair.
Hernandez's defense team also said Hernandez wouldn't have
killed Lloyd because they were friends, and shared "a passion
for marijuana." "Obviously they were friends," Sultan told the
jury. "They were future brothers-in-law."
McCauley said there was "no evidence they were friends," given
the way Hernandez had behaved. He referred to surveillance video
that showed Hernandez, Wallace and Ortiz relaxing by his pool
hours after the slaying.
Hernandez had a $41 million contract with the Patriots. He was
cut after his arrest in June 2013.
(Writing by Richard Valdmanis, editing by G Crosse and Andrew
Hay)
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