Bristol native and former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez scored a small and maybe temporary legal victory in court Friday. A Massachusetts judge denied the Commonwealth’s request for records of the ex-NFL star’s jailhouse phone calls.
Prosecutors allege Hernandez has been having coded conversations about the murder of Odin Lloyd — not only on the phone but with visitors to the Massachusetts jail where he is awaiting trial.
They also asked for records of who’s been visiting Hernandez and notification of all future visitors.
Defense attorney James Sultan called the request grossly overbroad.
“This is nothing but a fishing expedition, and I mean, frankly, if this is what they say they need to try the case, one wonders about all the representations they’re making in court about what a strong case they have,” Sultan said.
The judge denied the prosecutors’ request for the records, saying they didn’t make a sufficient case to do so. But she left open the possibility for them to ask again if they give more information about what makes them believe the recordings are relevant.