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Aaron Hernandez defense calls prosecution filing 'utterly frivolous'

Aaron Hernandez looks at the prosecutor during his murder trial. (REUTERS)
Aaron Hernandez looks at the prosecutor during his murder trial. (REUTERS)

FALL RIVER, Mass. – On Monday, the prosecution in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial filed a motion seeking to admit into evidence allegations of a prior, separate 2013 shooting of a friend by the former New England Patriots star.

Hernandez's defense didn't waste any time responding, filing its own motion Tuesday morning here at Bristol County Superior Court calling the state's attempt "utterly frivolous."

Judge E. Susan Garsh has yet to rule on the back and forth, which, if admitted, could prove devastating to Hernandez, who is currently on trial for the June 2013 murder of friend Odin Lloyd.

At issue is an incident that occurred in February 2013, when Hernandez allegedly shot his longtime friend, Alexander Bradley, after a visit to a South Florida strip club.

No criminal charges were filed in that incident because Bradley refused to cooperate with authorities. Bradley later sued Hernandez in federal court. He is also considered a key eyewitness in Hernandez's upcoming trial for a 2012 double homicide outside a Boston nightclub.

During pretrial hearings in December, Garsh excluded any mention of all "prior bad acts" – including both of the aforementioned incidents – to be presented to the jury in the Lloyd case because it would prove unduly prejudicial to Hernandez. Massachusetts' law is clear in stipulating that Hernandez is on trial for this act and this act alone.

However, prosecutors on Monday argued that the defense tactic of arguing that Hernandez lacks motive because it would make no sense for him to shoot one of his friends (Lloyd) is a lie because he may have shot another friend (Bradley). As such, it sought to bring the Bradley case into this one to refute the defense's argument.

"The [defense] apparently believed that [it] could purvey what [it] knew to be a falsehood to the jury – i.e. that the defendant would never harm his friends – with complete impunity," deputy district attorney William McCauley wrote in the prosecution's filing. "… The defendant himself has 'opened the door' to this topic."

Hernandez's defense attacked that idea, citing case law and praising Garsh's prior decision.

"Clearly, Hernandez has done nothing to 'open the door' to this excluded evidence," attorneys Charles Rankin and Michael Fee wrote in their opposition. "Hernandez is not on trial for his lifestyle or character traits.

"He has been accused of a specific crime, the murder of Odin Lloyd, and he vigorously denies that allegation," the filing continues. "… Evidence respecting Hernandez's relationship with Lloyd has absolutely nothing to do with Alexander Bradley."

Alexander Bradley (AP)
Alexander Bradley (AP)

The Commonwealth wants the Bradley case allowed into this trial because it would undermine the already undertaken defense of lack of motive due to friendship. There are also numerous other similarities to the Lloyd case – namely an alleged middle-of-the-night shooting of a friend and a body dumped in a secluded area.

Lloyd, a landscaper from Boston who partied with Hernandez, provided him custom-rolled marijuana blunts and was dating the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend. He was found shot to death on June 17, 2013, behind an industrial park near Hernandez's home in North Attleboro, Mass.

Bradley, the Commonwealth stated, was a "friend and confidante" to Hernandez and they often traveled and partied together. After a night out with two of Hernandez's friends on Feb. 13, 2013, the two allegedly got into an argument over how to split a bar tab. On the drive home from Tootsie's Cabaret in Miami Gardens, Fla., Bradley "made disrespectful remarks about [Hernandez]," the Commonwealth's filing states.

"Shortly thereafter," the filing continues, "the car pulled over in an isolated industrial area, where Bradley was shot between the eyes, the defendant exited the car and quickly dumped Bradley's body on the ground before fleeing the scene."

Bradley was discovered minutes later by workers at a John Deere Tractor Store and was taken to the hospital. He survived the shooting but lost his right eye. Bradley was also shot in 2014 outside a Hartford, Conn., nightclub.

To have Hernandez accused of a second, similar shooting-a-friend-and-dumping-a-body incident presented to the jury would be powerful and perhaps too much for Hernandez, who was already facing daunting odds, to overcome.

It's why the defense is vigorously fighting it and reminding Garsh how right she was originally. It argues she shouldn't change her mind because the defense has pointed out Hernandez and Lloyd were friends.

"The proposed Bradley shooting testimony was clearly nothing but prohibited propensity evidence intended to portray Hernandez in a negative light,” the defense argues.

"… it was not a close call."

We'll see about this time.