Aaron Hernandez dies an innocent man: Judge agrees to throw out former Patriots star's murder conviction because he committed suicide during the appeals process
- A judge ruled on Tuesday to throw out Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction
- Victim Odin Lloyd's family was in court and appeared emotional at the decision
- In Massachusetts, if a person dies in the appeals process, their conviction has to be abated
- The 27-year-old committed suicide in his jail cell last month, five days after he was acquitted in a separate double slaying in 2012
- Comes a week after Hernandez's suicide note to his fiancée was released, in which he said she would be 'rich' when he died
- Prosecutors say that was evidence that Hernandez hoped his family could fight for the rest of his Patriots' contract if the conviction was thrown out
- Legal experts now say that it's unlikely Hernandez's estate would be successful in trying to get the rest of his estimated $6.5million contract
Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez's conviction in a 2013 murder will be erased because he died before his appeal was heard, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge E. Susan Garsh said a legal doctrine that calls for vacating convictions when a defendant dies before an appeal can be heard was binding precedent. She said she was compelled to follow it.
The former New England Patriots tight end hanged himself in his prison cell last month while serving a life sentence on a first-degree murder conviction in the death of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd. He died five days after being acquitted in a separate double slaying in 2012.
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A judge ruled on Tuesday to throw out Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction because he died during the appeals process. The former New England Patriots star pictured above in court on March 15, 2017
Sheneah Jenkins, left, Odin Lloyd's girlfriend, and his sister Olivia Ward, center, react to the judge's ruling Tuesday, May 9, 2017 in Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Mass. Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, right, sits stoically, right
Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg had argued that Hernandez 'should not be able to accomplish in death what he could not accomplish in life.'
Hernandez's appellate attorney told the judge that the state's highest court has applied the legal doctrine 'without exception,' even in cases of suicide.
In a court filing last week, Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III argued that a defendant's death while an appeal is pending does not always require what is known as 'abatement,' including when 'a defendant's death is a result of his own conscious, deliberate and voluntary act.'
Bristol County Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh (pictured Tuesday) said legal doctrine dictates that she must throw out Hernandez's conviction for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd
Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg (pictured) had argued that Hernandez 'should not be able to accomplish in death what he could not accomplish in life'
Hernandez's appellate attorney, John Thompson (pictured), told the judge that the state's highest court has applied the legal doctrine 'without exception,' even in cases of suicide
Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd (pictured), who was dating the sister of his fiancée at the time
Hernandez's appellate lawyers said his conviction in the Lloyd case is not considered final because the automatic appeal he was entitled to had not been heard at the time of his death.
Hernandez, who grew up in Bristol, Connecticut, and played football at the University of Florida, was considered an up-and-coming star during his three seasons with the Patriots. He was cut from the team hours after his 2013 arrest in the killing of Lloyd.
Hernandez's conviction was vacated just days after his suicide note to his fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins Hernandez, was released.
In the handwritten letter, he told his fiancée, the mother of his four-year-old daughter, that she will be 'rich' when he's dead.
Prosecutors said that comment was evidence that Hernandez thought he could force the Patriots to pay out the rest of his contract if he killed himself during the appeals process.
In his suicide letter to fiancée Shayanna Jenkins (pictured left with their daughter in court on April 12), released last week, Hernandez (pictured right in court on the same day) said she would be 'rich' when he was dead
That comment prompted prosecutors to believe that Hernandez (pictured in 2012) killed himself so that his family could sue the team for the rest of his contract
Legal experts say it's highly unlikely that Hernandez's estate could get the rest of his contract, estimated to be $6.5million, no matter the abatement. Above, Hernandez's suicide note to his fiancée
It's estimated that Hernandez had $6.5million left on his contract, when the Patriots severed their times with him in 2013. He died without any money left in his estate.
But legal experts are now saying that it's highly unlikely his estate could successfully sue the team for the rest of his contract.
Hernandez settled with the team in 2014, and experts say that settlement likely had language preventing Hernandez's estate from being able to contest for more funds in the future, no matter the change in his criminal record.
Hernandez wrote three suicide notes - one to his fiancée, one to his daughter, and one to his gay prison lover, Kyle Kennedy (pictured)
One thing the abatement will do is make it harder for Lloyd's family to sue Hernandez's estate, since they will now have to convince a jury that he killed Lloyd, instead of referring simply to the conviction.
Ward's sister Olivia broke down in tears in court on Tuesday as the decision was read.
Also in his suicide letter, Hernandez asked his fiancée to look after two boys - whose names have been redacted - and signs off with a lyric from a song by the band Savage Garden.
The couple had known each other since childhood. They attended the same elementary school and began dating in 2007.
They became engaged in 2012 while Shayanna was pregnant with their daughter Avielle.
DailyMail.com exclusively learned that three handwritten notes were discovered in the cell where Hernandez hanged himself.
The second was written to his daughter and the third to his gay prison lover, Kyle Kennedy.
Kennedy was the last person that Hernandez spoke to before taking his own life.
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