As many of you know, former NFL player Aaron Hernandez was convicted of first degree murder in Massachusetts last week and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Such a sentence triggers an automatic appeal to a higher court. My understanding (and I might be wrong on this) is that the appeal, if successful, can only send the case back for a re-trial. It cannot exonerate Hernandez.
In the same trial, Hernandez was also sentenced to 2.5 to 4 years for one weapons charge and one year (considered already served) on another. In addition, he is currently facing double homicide charges in another county.
I would assume all of the following to be true. If any of these assumptions are incorrect, please let me know.
[ul]
[li]As stated above, he cannot be exonerated by the appeal, he can have the verdict overturned.[/li][li]If his appeal succeeds, he still has to serve the 2.5 to 4 year sentence on weapons charges.[/li][li]Even if all the convictions in the Lloyd case are vacated, he will still be held without bail pending the outcome of the double homicide case.[/li][/ul]
So, let’s suppose that all of Hernandez’s dreams come true (within the realm of possibility). His wins his appeal in the Lloyd case and wins an acquittal at retrial. He’s also acquitted of all charges in the other case. If all that happens (which, I know, is a longshot at best), when is the earliest that he can even begin to think about walking out of prison?
That and the double homicide trial (since even if everything is dropped in the Lloyd case, I’m pretty much 100% certain he’ll be held without bail for the next trial as well).
Yes that’s true. It’s also true that, in theory, the governor could give him a complete and full pardon. But the odds of that happening (or a simple dropping of all charges) are so remote as to be, for all intents and purposes, nil. That’s why I said “within the realm of possibility.” Perhaps I should have said “within the realm of reasonably possible.”
Fair enough. Massachusetts has a speedy trial law, but there is no requirement that the trial end by any particular date. So we can’t really say when the other trial will be finished.
I should also point out that he can theoretically be exonerated by the appeal of the first conviction; if the appeal is overturned on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to convict, the state does not get another bite of the apple (meaning he goes free.) If it’s overturned on other grounds he would generally be retried.