Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez is set to go to trial next year in the murder case involving the death of Odin Lloyd and his lawyers have argued that the venue for the trial should be changed due to media coverage and this comes as Hernandez's fiancé and girlfriend Shayanna Jenkins has continued to visit him in jail leading up to the eventual start date for the trial.
According to the Associated Press, the lawyers have argued that "intense media coverage" should allow the trial to be moved, as the scrutiny of the case has already been magnified in just the pre-trial phase. That request was denied on Thursday (UPDATE). Hernandez is facing first degree murder charges in the case and has been held in jail since last summer. Hernandez has also been charged in another case with two counts of first degree murder stemming from a separate drive by shooting in Boston.
Hernandez is coming into the trial after being accused of orchestrating the murder and while no weapon has been found in that case, it doesn't mean he can't be convicted. The lawyers argued in a filing that the "relentless avalanche of pretrial publicity" has tainted the jury pool and that for Hernandez to get a fair trial, it will need to be moved. The lawyers put together a poll that found that seven out of 10 "adults in Bristol County believe Hernandez is either definitely or probably guilty" and for that reason the trial should be moved.
The lawyers previously put in filings to suppress some evidence in the case, saying that police and investigators obtained it without a warrant. The AP reports that Hernandez was set for a hearing on Thursday in the Lloyd case and the trial date for that is attentively schedule for January of next year. According to ESPN.com reporter Adam Schefter, Hernandez has been visited by his fiancé Shayanna Jenkins in recent weeks and she also is facing charges of perjury in the case.
Hernandez was a stud tight end for the Patriots before the shocking news about the murder case and he had recently signed a big extension with the team before the incident. The lawyers for Hernandez in the case have argued that the media coverage and the surrounding attention will make it unfair for Hernandez, while the prosecution has argued that the lawyers have not shown enough proof or reasoning as to why the case could not be tried fairly in the Bristol Country system.
