Judge Daniel O’Shea, the First Justice of the Attleboro District Court, has ordered for the arrest and search warrants in connection with the murder case against England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez to be unsealed.
The ruling now orders the release of 156 pages of documents that relate to eight search warrants and two arrest warrants, one for Hernandez and another for alleged accomplice Ernest Wallace, that were served by police between June 17 and July 1. The documents are expected to be unsealed on Thursday, July 24 at 2pm (CST).
“The court has an obligation to treat these documents as what they are, which is public records,” O’Shea announced in his courtroom. Due to today’s ruling, any other motions made by the prosecution will immediately fall into public domain.
Hernandez’s defense counsel argued that the release of the documents would taint the jury pool and make it harder for their client to receive a fair trial.
On the other hand, Michael Grygiel of Greenberg Traurig LLP states that the law “is very clearly in favor of transparency and openness rather than impoundment and secrecy.” A Supreme Judicial Court ruling states that all court document are public record unless the defense can prove without a doubt that the release of said document will influence the jury pool.
Judge Daniel O’Shea also decided to grant the prosecution more time to build their case after what was initially expected to be a probably cause hearing today. A new hearing is scheduled for August 22.
Aaron Hernandez has plead not guilty to the charge of first degree murder in the death of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd. The prosecution believes that Hernandez’s motive for the murder was due to Lloyd obtaining information that linked Hernandez to a Boston double homicide last summer.
Hernandez is currently being held without bond.
