Unnecessary Roughness by Jose Baez & George Willis

Author:Jose Baez & George Willis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2018-08-20T16:00:00+00:00

MANY PEOPLE ASK ME: “Do you believe Aaron Hernandez shot Odin Lloyd?” Well, I can tell you Aaron told me he did not. My honest answer, despite the fact that I knew Aaron, represented him in the Boston case, and even liked him, is I don’t know for certain. However, after examining the case and how it was tried, I have a reasonable doubt that he did it. Now let me show you why.

First and foremost, many people do not know that Aaron Hernandez was tried on what is known as the joint venture theory, a legal loophole that allows prosecutors to hold someone liable for murder even if they don’t know they are the person who did the actual killing. Huh? Yes, that’s right. A person can be convicted of murder even if the prosecutor cannot prove they did it.

Bristol County prosecutors went on a dual theory in his case. They believed Aaron was the shooter but weren’t sure enough to charge him on that theory alone. Dual theories to me scream reasonable doubt. I tell juries all the time: under the law, you are not to guess what happened or figure out a mystery. The government must prove beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. It is the highest legal standard in American jurisprudence.

To understand the reasonable doubt standard you have to compare it with other legal standards. A lower standard of a preponderance of the evidence is the criterion for a verdict in civil cases. This is the only standard quantified at 51 percent; meaning if the case is proven 51 percent in one direction, jurors must render their verdict for that side.

In some evidentiary proceedings there is clear and convincing evidence, which is still lower than beyond a reasonable doubt. Now think about that for a second. If you don’t know who the shooter is, how in the hell is the evidence proven beyond a reasonable doubt? Think of the injustice of being convicted of murder when the prosecutor in your case doesn’t even have to prove you pulled the trigger.

Most defenses counter the joint venture theory by arguing what is called mere presence, which means that a person, under the law, cannot be convicted of a crime just because they are merely present when a crime occurs, even if they knew it was about to occur. People who are present aren’t forced to act and put their own life in danger. Otherwise we might have more casualties. To be convicted, the accused must have participated in the crime and had the intent to commit it.

Now that you understand the framework of the law the jury had to follow, let me walk you through the evidence as it was presented in court.

The prosecution was extremely weak on motive, so what do they do when they don’t have motive? They throw everything against the wall to see what sticks. In this case the prosecution provided the following motives. First, that Aaron was angry at Odin

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.