A MA judge on Tuesday granted a request to erase Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction, less than one month after the former New England Patriots star hanged himself in prison.
MA courts have generally recognized a legal rule called "abatement ab initio", or abatement, in which convictions are thrown out if a defendant dies before his or her appeal is heard.
Judge Garsh said in court that she would not determine the motive of Hernandez's suicide, and that she "could not draw the inferences claimed by the Commonwealth as proof of forfeiture" of his appeal.
The former New England Patriots tight end hanged himself in his cell in a maximum-security prison last month while serving a life sentence on a first-degree murder conviction in the death of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd.
Prosecutors in the case argue by overturning the conviction, Hernandez is rewarded for his decision to take his own life.
Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg said the 27-year-old did not die "by happenstance" and "should not be able to accomplish in death what he could not accomplish in life". The lawyer said in recent correspondence, Hernandez showed an interest in pursuing his appeal. His attorneys made the request to dismiss the conviction under the principle of abatement, in which convictions are erased if the defendant dies before their appeal.
A former National Football League player's murder sentence has been overturned - because he killed himself in jail before his appeal could be heard.
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Less than two weeks after his suicide in a MA prison, a judge has ruled that the murder conviction of Aaron Hernandez will be vacated. Garsh is the same judge who sat during Hernandez's murder trial. The ruling was announced on Tuesday, May 9.
But Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn criticized the "antiquated" practice of abatement, especially when an inmate commits suicide while his conviction is under appeal.
There is a potential payout to be collected from the Patriots, who withheld contract money from Hernandez once he was arrested and charged with Odin Lloyd's murder on June 17, 2013.
Investigators found three handwritten notes next to a Bible in Hernandez's cell and the message John 3:16 written on the wall, apparently in his own blood, the Massachusetts State Police have reported. The following week, his lawyers then filed a motion to vacate the former Patriots tight end's murder conviction. But in her mind, Ward said, Hernandez was "guilty, and he's going to always be guilty".
Hernandez isn't the first high-profile murderer to have a conviction tossed due to the Abatement Doctrine.
She also said a "possible mental disturbance" was reflected in a suicide note to his fiancee in which he said his death was "the Supremes, the almightys plan, not mine". "It involves just two questions - is there a pending direct appeal and has the appellant died during the course of the pending direct appeal?"
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