FALL RIVER, Mass. – In a slow, calm, yet confident voice, defense attorney James Sultan paced back and forth in front of the jury here Tuesday morning and argued his client, Aaron Hernandez, was innocent of murder and mocked a prosecution case that was full of holes and rich with speculation.
"This is a court of law," Sultan said. "This isn't a mystery show."
The former New England Patriots star has banked on his high-profile legal team to beat the rap of his involvement in the June 17, 2013, early-morning killing of Odin Lloyd, who was found shot to death in an undeveloped piece of industrial property near Hernandez's North Attleboro, Mass., home.
Sultan acknowledged Hernandez's presence at the murder scene, but what motive did he have to kill Lloyd? That's what Sultan focused on in an intense 89-minute closing here in Bristol Country Superior Court. He also argued that police and prosecutors were guilty of immediately deciding Hernandez did it and then aggressively sought evidence to support their assumption while ignoring other possible scenarios.
The defense instead hammered the lack of focus on Ernest Wallace and Odin Lloyd, drug-dealing friends of Hernandez, who were also present at the scene and may have been under the influence of PCP the night in question.
"The investigation into this case was incomplete, biased and inept," Sultan said. "That was not fair to Odin Lloyd. That was not fair to Aaron Hernandez. … And that was not fair to you [because] this is all you have to work with."
Due to that and police incompetence, Sultan said almost all forensic evidence presented from the prosecution – from Hernandez's DNA on a shell casing, to footprints, to tire tread evidence – should be disregarded.
"They have relied on this courtroom to convict someone of murder," Sultan argued. "They would do whatever it took to accomplish their goal. That's not science; that's scary.
"And that is not beyond a reasonable doubt."
Sultan went hard over the lack of an established motive, which is by far the weakest part of the prosecution's case. While the Commonwealth is not legally required to provide a motive, jurors often want all the pieces of a puzzle, particularly in a murder trial.
The prosecution fumbled about with various theories, none of which were particularly convincing. The issue is that the most likely possible motive for Hernandez being involved in the shooting is that this, while almost inexplicable for a man blessed with fame, fortune and a growing family, was just what he commonly did.
Hernandez is also alleged to have shot a friend in Florida early in 2013 and is charged with a double homicide for a 2012 shooting in Boston, the trial of which is scheduled to begin later this year. However, Bristol County Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh did not allow the jury to hear any of that evidence under the argument that "prior bad acts" was unduly prejudicial.
The state probably shouldn't have bothered trying to argue any motive. By doing so it allowed Sultan to easily pick apart a number of nonsense theories, most notably that Hernandez and Lloyd – who were dating sisters, often hung out together and shared an enthusiasm for marijuana – were not friends.
"Were they friends?" Sultan asked. "Obviously they were friends. They were future brothers-in-law. The prosecution wants to deny the obvious."
He noted the absurdity of the prosecution arguments that Hernandez was angry with Lloyd for some minor reason, including testimony that six months prior Hernandez thought it was "rude" when Lloyd didn't stop and say hello to him during a visit to Hernandez's home.
"Does the prosecution seriously want you to believe that Aaron spent the next six months plotting the murder of Odin Lloyd because he didn't say hi?" Sultan asked. " Contrary to the prosecutions argument there is no evidence of any plan to kill Odin Lloyd."
Sultan, the lead attorney of Hernandez's defense, handled the closing argument instead of co-council Michael Fee, who made the opening arguments. It was somewhat of a surprise since Fee can be more bombastic and across the trial demonstrated himself as the superior orator.
Instead Sultan went with a toned down, but extremely direct argument in front of an attentive jury and a packed courtroom that included the families of Odin Lloyd and Aaron Hernandez. Seated on opposite sides were sisters Shayanna Jenkins (Hernandez's fiancée) and Shaneah Jenkins (Lloyd's girlfriend), whose once close relationship is now estranged.
Sultan laid out the timeline of Father's Day weekend 2013 – from Hernandez and Lloyd partying together at a Boston nightclub on Friday night and trying to entertain girls later at an apartment Hernandez rented, to text messages from early Monday morning when Hernandez picked up Lloyd at his Boston home at about 2:30 a.m.
"We know they drove back to North Attleboro and we know they wound up … less than a mile from Hernandez's home and we know that Odin was shot there," Sultan said.
Sultan then used the sloppy and illogical way the crime went down as an excuse that Hernandez couldn't have done it, smoothly flipping the most damning evidence around.
He noted that it made no sense for Hernandez to take the victim out of Boston, where murders are common, to a leafy suburb near Hernandez's own home; it made no sense for him to leave a marijuana blunt they shared and thus contained their DNA, among other evidence, at the scene of the crime; and it made no sense to bring along witnesses if the plan was, indeed, to kill Lloyd.
Sultan further noted that damning evidence from home security video, including Hernandez holding what appears to be a Glock semiautomatic pistol, could have been easily erased if Hernandez had wanted it erased.
"[The] critical questions the prosecution has not answered during the trial," Sultan said. "If the prosecution can't answer those reasonable questions then you must be left with reasonable doubt."
As for the never found murder weapon, Sultan continued the defense argument that the black object Hernandez was holding in home video just after the murder may have been an iPad, not a Glock. Sultan replayed the video segments in question.
"Is it a gun? It might be a gun. Has the prosecution proven to you beyond a reasonable doubt?" Sultan argued. "Suppose you find it is a gun. How does that prove Aaron Hernandez murdered Odin Lloyd."
"Aaron has an iPad, not a gun when he comes into the house. That's important," Sultan said. "Then he goes into the basement. Who is in the basement? Ernest Wallace and Odin Lloyd. What does that say? Did he arm himself because of what he'd [just seen]? Did he take away the murder weapon?"
Sultan noted such suggestions are unproven, just like the prosecution's.
"You can see what you want to see," Sultan said. "Be aware of seeing [what you want to see]. That's confirmation bias."
As for the box Hernandez's fiancée Shayanna Jenkins removed from the house, Sultan said the prosecution's explanation is all speculative.
"The prosecutions theory is that the murder weapon was inside that box. Yet there is absolutely no proof of that," Sultan argued. "Is it possible the murder weapon as inside that bag Shayanna took out that day? Of course it was. Anything is possible. But possible is not enough to get someone for first-degree murder."
The prosecution began its closing argument almost immediately after Sultan finished. When finished, Judge Garsh will provide detailed instructions to the jury before handing the case over to them. The jury currently consists of 10 women and five men, but will be pared to 12 (with three alternates) at the time of deliberation.
Sultan tried to leave the jury with a reminder that close isn't enough; this has to be airtight.
"They want you to guess," Sultan said. "That isn't the system of American justice. There has to be proof. … What proof is there?"
In the end, Sultan stood in front of the jurors box and powerfully made his final appeal, about the only chance Hernandez has of winning.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a terrible case. This is about the tragic death, the violent murder of a young man, Odin Lloyd, and another young man, an innocent man charged with that crime. Don't compound that tragedy with by convicting an innocent man.
"I ask you to find Aaron Hernandez not guilty of killing Odin Lloyd."