Hernandez defense holds out hope for continuance
Jury selection scheduled to begin Monday
Hundreds of prospective jurors are slated to arrive at Suffolk Superior Court beginning Monday as former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez faces a doublemurder trial, but his legal team is still holding out hope for a continuance.
“We will be as ready as humanly possible. The commonwealth has had four years to prepare, we have had a few months to prepare,” defense attorney Ronald Sullivan told the Herald yesterday following a day of pretrial motions. “It is overwhelming, but we are working 10- to 12-hour days, seven days a week getting ready.”
Judge Jeffrey Locke pushed back on repeated defense pleas to delay the trial.
“The court hasn’t ruled on (the continuance), we will see what happens,” Sullivan said. “Hope springs eternal.”
Locke offered new concessions to the defense short of pushing back the trial, including requiring both sides to give at least 48 hours’ notice before calling witnesses once testimony gets underway.
“While these concessions do assist us in cushioning the blow defense is under currently, we still do move for the motion to continue,” said lead defense attorney Jose Baez, who participated yesterday via telephone. “The overall time that we have been on the case, seven months, has simply not been a sufficient amount (of) time to cover everything.”
The judge pointed out the defense has six attorneys and will have had 235 days when the case begins.
“Multiply by that by six lawyers and you’re dealing with around 3.8 years of legal time,” Locke said. “This is one of approximately 60 open homicides in Suffolk County that is different only in its public interest but not in the dynamics of the way the case should be tried.”
Hernandez, already serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin L. Lloyd, is charged with killing Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu in a 2012 South End shooting.
A total of 600 prospective jurors will be examined and Locke said 16 will ultimately hear the case. The trial starts March 1 and attorneys have said it could last two months.
The two sides discussed the lengthy juror questionnaire, which will ask jurors what they know about the Lloyd conviction, among other questions.
Sullivan said the form is “maybe 20 percent longer” than a typical homicide case, “given the media attention in this case that we have to account for.”