The Aaron Hernandez case has taken many twists and turns this year since the Patriots star was arrested on murder charges and now he will be back in court on Wednesday for pretrial appearances that will eventually lead to a date being set in the trial.
According to the Herald News in Boston, Hernandez will appear in Fall River court on Wednesday and during that time his lawyers will try and quell the publicity in the case, asking for a gag order to help with jury selection. The defense has said that the jury pool could be tainted due to the high interest in the case and it could affect the trial. The defense said that Hernandez could possibly not get a fair trial due to all the publicity and the prosecution has said that they have agreed to the "Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct", which says that lawyers can't make comments about anything else except what is said in "open court".
Hernandez will be back in court for the first time since being arraigned in Fall River superior court and this time it comes after a number of his associates were also charged with crimes, including his fiancé Shayanna Jenkins, who was hit with perjury charges relating the murder case of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez will be in court before Jenkins is scheduled to be in court next week to face her charges, which her lawyers have called overreaching.
Technically, Jenkins could face up to twenty years in jail or even more since it is in a murder case and with Hernandez still locked up without bail, a trial date for him could be set for next fall. Hernandez was arrested for the murder of Lloyd a week after the body was discovered less than a mile from his home in North Attleboro and that same day he was released by the Patriots.
Hernandez was arrested and charged with the murder of Lloyd and he was denied bail for the second time this past summer after his lawyers asked for a hearing to try and convince the judge to let him out with heavy restrictions. The judge denied his request for bail and deemed him a flight risk despite the fact that he is a high profile celebrity, saying that he had the means to do it and because the charges were serious enough to try and avoid. Hernandez is facing life in prison and could have further charges brought up against him if he is implicated in the double murders from 2012.
