Aaron Hernandez Murder Charge Vacated by Massachusetts Judge

Former pro football thug and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez just got a piece of really good news although he wasn’t around to celebrate it.

His conviction for the killing of Odin “the Bluntmaster” Lloyd was vacated by a liberal Massachusetts judge after the fallen New England Patriots star tight end committed suicide in prison.

Murder conviction of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez vacated https://t.co/RpHCX0yv3p by @DanWetzel pic.twitter.com/eTELUiFyxl

— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) May 9, 2017

According to Yahoo News “Aaron Hernandez’s murder conviction vacated “:

Aaron Hernandez was granted an abatement on his 2015 conviction for the murder of Odin Lloyd, meaning the former New England Patriot is considered not guilty in the eyes of the court.

Bristol County (Mass.) Judge Susan Garsh, who presided over the original trial, ruled in favor of Hernandez’s estate, agreeing that an ancient Massachusetts law should be applied here. It states that if a defendant dies while a conviction is still in the process of appeal then the verdict is vacated. Hernandez, 27, committed suicide late last month while serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Lloyd.

“Abatement is the law in this Commonwealth and this court is required to follow that precedent,” Garsh said citing case law. “… the Court has no other choice.”

The Commonwealth is expected to appeal the decision, which will almost certainly wind up in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. No matter which way Garsh ruled, this was almost assuredly going to be step one in a long legal process.

Hernandez’s attorney, John Thompson, argued in briefs and during a 40-minute hearing Tuesday morning that neither the cause of death nor any assumed motives applied to the law. He noted there was no precedent in any other ruling on the issue that called for abatement not to be granted.

“[The original Lloyd ruling] is not a final conviction,” Thompson said. “And that’s what matters.”

Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg argued otherwise, saying that Hernandez chose to die, thus making a conscious decision to forfeit his appeal process as a way to be cleared, which wasn’t the intent of the law.

“The defendant should not be able to accomplish in death what he could not accomplish in life,” Bomberg argued.

While Hernandez has moved on to a new career as worm food, the ruling will affect the former NFL player’s estate as well as a lawsuit brought by his victim’s family. It looks like Hernandez is getting over even in death.