Aaron Hernandez trial
Aaron Hernandez trial,Aaron Hernandez stared intently at the witness stand Friday as his fiancée described requests he made of her in the days after Odin Lloyd was killed — to remove a box from their home in secret and to deliver cash to a friend who was with the former Patriots tight end the night of the shooting.
It's unclear what was on Hernandez's mind when Shayanna Jenkins, who is charged with perjury by lying to a grand jury to protect him, took the stand. What was clear, however, is that Jenkins' testimony has changed since she first appeared before the grand jury two years ago. She was forced to testify under a grant of immunity from prosecution on any further charges.
Jenkins said Friday she was instructed to take a black box out of her home the day after Lloyd was found dead. She testified that it was "important" to her to get rid of the box, and to do so without being seen, which contradicted her prior statements that removing the item was not important.
"You took that box out and concealed it; were you attempting to do it in a way so that people didn't know what you were doing?" asked Bristol County District Attorney William McCauley. Prosecutors say the box contained the murder weapon.
"That's correct," said Jenkins. Jurors were not in the courtroom for that exchange, which occurred during a hearing before the trial resumed Friday. Court adjourned before McCauley finished questioning Jenkins, and he had not yet asked her about removing the box. He is expected to do so when her testimony resumes next week.Prosecutors are using Jenkins' testimony to try to prove that Hernandez tried to conceal the crime after he learned that he was a target in the police investigation.
Jurors heard Friday about a phone call Hernandez made to his fiancée from the North Attleborough police station around midnight on June 18, 2013, less than 24 hours after Lloyd was killed. The couple had driven to the police station together that night, but Jenkins left before Hernandez. On the ride to the station, she testified, Hernandez told her not to worry and that everything would be OK.
After she left, she received the call from Hernandez, who told her to meet up with Bristol, Conn., resident Ernest Wallace to give him money. Wallace, who accompanied Hernandez the night of the slaying, also faces a murder charge.Jenkins said she drove for "a while" to find Wallace that night, with her eight-month-old baby in the back of the car. She eventually met him in a parking lot in East Greenwich, R.I.
"He asked me to withdraw money, I forget how much," Jenkins said. She said she drove to an ATM and took out $500. Wallace, she said, had asked for more. Prosecutors have used prior testimony to establish that Wallace traveled south to Florida the week after the slaying, and have suggested that the money Jenkins gave to him helped fund his escape from authorities.
After giving Wallace the money, Jenkins exchanged several phone calls with members of her family, who had just learned of Lloyd's death. Jenkins' sister, Shaneah, was dating Lloyd. Shaneah Jenkins was in court Friday, sitting with Lloyd's family. The two sisters did not acknowledge each other.We're estranged, kind of," said Shayanna Jenkins, when McCauley asked her to describe her relationship with her sister.
In addition to the phone call, Jenkins received a cryptic text from Hernandez that night referring to a box. She said she did not understand the message when she received it.
"Go in back of the screen in movie room when u get home an there is the box avielle likes to play with in the tub jus in case u were lookin for it!!!!" Hernandez wrote in the text. "Member how u ruined that big tv lmao WAS JUST THINKIN bout that lol wink wink love u TTYL……k"
McCauley asked Jenkins how old her daughter was at the time, and Jenkins said about 8 months.
"Did she play with a box in the tub?" he asked.
"Toys, yes," Jenkins said. McCauley asked if bath toys were kept in the movie room of the basement."I don't think so," Jenkins said. "I'm not sure."
Though Jenkins answered some questions in length, she faltered in other instances to remember details.
She said she could not remember what, if anything, she asked Hernandez about Lloyd's slaying — other than whether he "did it." Hernandez said no.
She testified that in the spring of 2013, she found a gun in her kitchen junk drawer. But when asked to estimate the size of the gun or compare it to a weapon McCauley held up in court Friday, Jenkins said she could not recall and did not know much about firearms. She said she gave Hernandez a "stern look" after finding the weapon, but could not remember asking him about it.
At times during her four hours of testimony Friday, Jenkins became confused by McCauley's painstaking, methodical line of questioning. The prosecutor asked her what ingredients she put in smoothies she made for Hernandez and his friends the morning after the shooting. He asked her to define terms like "lol" and "ttyl." He asked her about what routes she took and what exits she passed when she drove to meet Wallace to give him money.
"I have never seen a direct examination drag as much as it did," Jenkins' lawyer, Janice Bassil, told the judge at the end of proceedings Friday. Bassil said she could not be in court Monday and would not allow Jenkins to testify if she was not there.
"I'm not through," she shouted at McCauley when he stood up to object. Bristol County Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh said that if Jenkins did not testify, she would be held in contempt of court.
After court, Bassil told reporters that she intends to send an attorney from her firm to fill in Monday.
"Had the DA not asked every question four times over, maybe we would have finished, not to mention irrelevant questions," she said.
It's unclear what was on Hernandez's mind when Shayanna Jenkins, who is charged with perjury by lying to a grand jury to protect him, took the stand. What was clear, however, is that Jenkins' testimony has changed since she first appeared before the grand jury two years ago. She was forced to testify under a grant of immunity from prosecution on any further charges.
Jenkins said Friday she was instructed to take a black box out of her home the day after Lloyd was found dead. She testified that it was "important" to her to get rid of the box, and to do so without being seen, which contradicted her prior statements that removing the item was not important.
"You took that box out and concealed it; were you attempting to do it in a way so that people didn't know what you were doing?" asked Bristol County District Attorney William McCauley. Prosecutors say the box contained the murder weapon.
"That's correct," said Jenkins. Jurors were not in the courtroom for that exchange, which occurred during a hearing before the trial resumed Friday. Court adjourned before McCauley finished questioning Jenkins, and he had not yet asked her about removing the box. He is expected to do so when her testimony resumes next week.Prosecutors are using Jenkins' testimony to try to prove that Hernandez tried to conceal the crime after he learned that he was a target in the police investigation.
Jurors heard Friday about a phone call Hernandez made to his fiancée from the North Attleborough police station around midnight on June 18, 2013, less than 24 hours after Lloyd was killed. The couple had driven to the police station together that night, but Jenkins left before Hernandez. On the ride to the station, she testified, Hernandez told her not to worry and that everything would be OK.
After she left, she received the call from Hernandez, who told her to meet up with Bristol, Conn., resident Ernest Wallace to give him money. Wallace, who accompanied Hernandez the night of the slaying, also faces a murder charge.Jenkins said she drove for "a while" to find Wallace that night, with her eight-month-old baby in the back of the car. She eventually met him in a parking lot in East Greenwich, R.I.
"He asked me to withdraw money, I forget how much," Jenkins said. She said she drove to an ATM and took out $500. Wallace, she said, had asked for more. Prosecutors have used prior testimony to establish that Wallace traveled south to Florida the week after the slaying, and have suggested that the money Jenkins gave to him helped fund his escape from authorities.
After giving Wallace the money, Jenkins exchanged several phone calls with members of her family, who had just learned of Lloyd's death. Jenkins' sister, Shaneah, was dating Lloyd. Shaneah Jenkins was in court Friday, sitting with Lloyd's family. The two sisters did not acknowledge each other.We're estranged, kind of," said Shayanna Jenkins, when McCauley asked her to describe her relationship with her sister.
In addition to the phone call, Jenkins received a cryptic text from Hernandez that night referring to a box. She said she did not understand the message when she received it.
"Go in back of the screen in movie room when u get home an there is the box avielle likes to play with in the tub jus in case u were lookin for it!!!!" Hernandez wrote in the text. "Member how u ruined that big tv lmao WAS JUST THINKIN bout that lol wink wink love u TTYL……k"
McCauley asked Jenkins how old her daughter was at the time, and Jenkins said about 8 months.
"Did she play with a box in the tub?" he asked.
"Toys, yes," Jenkins said. McCauley asked if bath toys were kept in the movie room of the basement."I don't think so," Jenkins said. "I'm not sure."
Though Jenkins answered some questions in length, she faltered in other instances to remember details.
She said she could not remember what, if anything, she asked Hernandez about Lloyd's slaying — other than whether he "did it." Hernandez said no.
She testified that in the spring of 2013, she found a gun in her kitchen junk drawer. But when asked to estimate the size of the gun or compare it to a weapon McCauley held up in court Friday, Jenkins said she could not recall and did not know much about firearms. She said she gave Hernandez a "stern look" after finding the weapon, but could not remember asking him about it.
At times during her four hours of testimony Friday, Jenkins became confused by McCauley's painstaking, methodical line of questioning. The prosecutor asked her what ingredients she put in smoothies she made for Hernandez and his friends the morning after the shooting. He asked her to define terms like "lol" and "ttyl." He asked her about what routes she took and what exits she passed when she drove to meet Wallace to give him money.
"I have never seen a direct examination drag as much as it did," Jenkins' lawyer, Janice Bassil, told the judge at the end of proceedings Friday. Bassil said she could not be in court Monday and would not allow Jenkins to testify if she was not there.
"I'm not through," she shouted at McCauley when he stood up to object. Bristol County Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh said that if Jenkins did not testify, she would be held in contempt of court.
After court, Bassil told reporters that she intends to send an attorney from her firm to fill in Monday.
"Had the DA not asked every question four times over, maybe we would have finished, not to mention irrelevant questions," she said.
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Aaron Hernandez trial
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