ijohnb

April 19th, 2017 at 9:17 AM ^

wake up the day after a "good thing" happening for you, and then realize that your life will only still ever consist of sitting or standing in a 10 by 10 box, yeah, I could see that being a pretty difficult realization. Don't think the timing is as odd as it seems.

MI Expat NY

April 19th, 2017 at 10:52 AM ^

Yes, this.  Plus, with the trial over, unless he was somehow charged with yet another crime, he was literally never going to step foot out of prison again.  Sure, it's not like he was a free man on his visits to court, but it still provided interatctions with the outside world.  Now that that was over, all he had left was prison life.  The timing makes sense to me.

BursleyBaitsBus

April 19th, 2017 at 7:53 AM ^

Timing is quite odd... Didn't he have an appeal on the way for his first case once he beat the 2nd round of double murder charges?

lilpenny1316

April 19th, 2017 at 11:18 AM ^

I thought he would've been hopeful with his new lawyer handling his appeal.  Not like I would've wanted him free, but I would've thought that this would have made him a little bit more hopeful.

ska4punkkid

April 19th, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^

not saying it is saving us money, but glad it's one less murderer who gets 3 decent meals, tv, and hobbies on the house for the rest of his life.

 

With that being said, more criminals going into prison means prisons will need their budgets increased, which will affect my taxes...

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 19th, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^

Demons?  This from the guy who won't shut the fuck up about "Penn State and all the delusional joepa loving fans"?  Jerry Sandusky had demons too.  I mean, if uncontrollable perverted sexual urges don't count as "demons," what does?  Or just maybe, Sandusky and Hernandez made conscious decisions to hurt other people.  Or kill them, in Hernandez's case.  "Demons" my ass.  Fuck Hernandez - nobody should mourn his death or make excuses for his behavior.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 19th, 2017 at 10:28 AM ^

Honestly, my opinion is that this is even a blessing for her.  She was always going to grow up without a dad.  He was lost to her long ago.  Visitations and letters from prison saying "be a good girl" don't count as being a father figure.  This way, I think it would be much easier to put behind her the fact that her father was a cold-blooded murderer.  If anyone asks, instead of saying he's in prison for murder, she can say he's dead and leave it there.  He won't be an influence on her life, which, given his influence on the lives of others, is a plus.  Her mother can hopefully find for her some more positive influences and leave the memory of the cold-blooded killer behind.

pfholland

April 19th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^

I can absolutely understand this point of view, and it may end up being true.

I can also understand how it might scar a little girl if her father, terrible person though he may have been, would kill himself rather than trying to be there for her in whatever form that might have taken.

It's just a terrible situation, but all the blame for that lies with Aaron Hernandez.

 

Michigantrumpet82

April 19th, 2017 at 2:32 PM ^

A conviction for first degree murder carries an automatic life without parole sentence AND an automatic appeal.  The first murder trial for the death of Odom Lloyd was such a conviction. 

Part of the prosecution's case was that Lloyd was killed because Hernandez was afraid he might talk about the Suffiolk County double drive-by shooting murder.  With the acquittal in the Suffolk case, the defense would be arguing that the motive in the Bristol County case was now negated. 

If anything, the Suffolk County acquittal would have bouyed the defense's prospects for success. 

Additionally, in Massachusetts, we have a legal precept called "abatement ab initio." Because there were still outstanding appeals in the first case, it is as if Hernandez was innocent of that case. With the suicide, the Commonwealth will vacate the conviction. This creates issues with the civil case of the Lloyd family as they will not be able to use the 'beyond a reasonable doubt" conviction in the criminal case to bolster their action for monetary damages against hernandez and his estate. 

(And BTW I am a former prosecutor in Massachusetts' Middlesex County.)

MonkeyMan

April 19th, 2017 at 4:15 PM ^

Trumpet 82

I gave you an up vote just for explaining all this

 

But I don't understand the "automatic appeal" thing. Why does the state do that? Do they not trust their own trials? Are they trying to overturn their own convictions?

 

It seem like the state is trying to avoid any punishment- then why go through the expense of a trial? Why not save the taxpayers and set suspects free w/o trial? (unless its a lawyer employment thing)

Michigantrumpet82

April 19th, 2017 at 4:31 PM ^

Ha! Good one about employment protection for lawyers! :-D And certainly Criminal appellate work is a burgeoning specialty all its own. 

There are many states that have a similar automatic appeal provision, particularly in capital punishment states. The idea being that before one does the irreparable harm of depriving someone of their life, there are safeguards in place to make sure there wasn't some gross judicial or prosecutrial misconduct.

Massachusetts does not have capital punishment. However, the same concepts are in play. 

When you think about it, the Government can wield enormous power and resources in prosecuting its citizenry. Before depriving those people of their life liberty, livelihoods, etc., the Government should be able to get it right. 

The same idea comes into play with the requirement the Government be able to prove its case "beyond a reasonable doubt." As a prosecutor, I often told juries that this was a burden the Commonwealth gladly took on and was convinced it had gotten it right in that particular case. 

drzoidburg

April 19th, 2017 at 4:44 PM ^

except the recent UM Law study concludes that over 4% of those who are executed would've been exonerated if only they had lived for new evidence to come forth. There was a man in ohio who spent *40 years* in jail before the coerced confession was revealed and he was released. Had he been on death row, he would've been executed long before that

xtramelanin

April 19th, 2017 at 7:04 PM ^

rights, even for misdemeanors.  every murder i ever tried and all but a handful of felonies were appealed.  and if the convicted criminal can't afford an appellate attorney, one is appointed for him.  for guys looking at a lot of time in the joint, life in prison, or a death penalty case, it's not like they are too busy doing something else to try and appeal a conviction.

and then you come to that % of guys that are/were wrongfully convicted.  the jury system is the finest system every devised by man to decide trials, but it's not perfect.  

UM Fan from Sydney

April 19th, 2017 at 7:09 AM ^

Fucking coward. Just like that asshole from Cleveland. Can do the crime, but not willing to accept the consequences.

PopeLando

April 19th, 2017 at 8:40 AM ^

I don't know, man. He had accepted the consequences for years now. Just won his court case, had an appeal coming up. This was definitely not his lowest point. Something must have changed.

Doesn't really matter. The world is down one murderer. Personally, I hope his family, and the families of his victims, can find peace.

UM Fan from Sydney

April 19th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^

"for years now" as in 3.5 to 4. Wow. That is just such a huge amount of his lifetime sentence. Congratulations, Aaron. You really did well.

Won a court case? Big fucking deal. That was not going to change his lifetime sentence for the other murder case. I don't know why people keep referencing this other court case. He was still going to be in prison for the rest of his life.

PopeLando

April 19th, 2017 at 1:20 PM ^

There's some serious lightening up Francis that needs to happen here. I'm just saying that there doesn't seem to be a timing connection between his suicide and the imminent dropping of any hammer.

Not sure we can definitively say that his suicide is due to cowardice. Also not sure we should be angry about anything other than his crimes.

FauxMo

April 19th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^

Just as a "thought experiment," let's say I've done something horrible, something for which there can be no forgiveness or "take-backs." Let's say I finally, after a long period of denial or moral equivocation, accept responsibility for my actions. Then let's say, because of this complete acceptance of responsibility, I decide I am going to end my own life as a form of contrition and self-punishment, to confront the greatest unknown to all of mankind - "what, if anything, comes next." Does that make me a coward? I really don't think so. On the contrary, I think it takes a great deal of moral courage. 

Now, does this make Hernandez suddenly a "good person"? No, absolutely not. But calling him a coward is kind of, well, dumb. In my opinion, a coward would spend the next 40 years proclaiming innocence, dragging families through appeals processes, living off the taxes of honest citizens, etc.