Former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is no longer seen as a convicted murderer in the eyes of the Commonwealth of MA. The death came five days after he was acquitted of two separate murders in Boston in 2012.
"Abatement has been practiced in state and federal courts for more than a century", Judge Susan Garsh said in delivering her ruling from the bench in Fall River.
"The defendant should not be able to accomplish in death what he could not accomplish in life", Bomberg said.
Lawyers for Hernandez had argued that the state's highest court had applied the legal doctrine "without exception", even in cases of suicide. "But I won because I have God on my side and with God all things are possible".
The law states that it is discriminatory to a defendant or survivors to allow a conviction to stand before they have a chance to appeal it. Hernandez hanged himself in a MA prison last month.
Upon hearing the ruling, Lloyd's sister, Olivia Ward, burst into tears, leaving the courtroom alongside Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, and Lloyd's girlfriend, Sheneah Jenkins, who is also the estranged sister of Hernandez's fiancée Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez.
The judgment in the matter could have immediate repercussions in pending civil lawsuits against Hernandez's estate. He was confident that Ward would win her civil case whether Hernandez's conviction was vacated or not.
Thompson says he has recent correspondence from Hernandez in which the former New England Patriots tight end said he was interested in pursuing an appeal.
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In addition to that, a rope was also found in the trunk that the prosecution said had Sierra's hair. A jury found Antolin Garcia-Torres guilty of the killing and kidnapping of Sierra LaMar in 2012.
Hernandez's attorney, Jose Baez, told TMZ Sports on Tuesday the family has yet to decide whether it will seek to recoup the remainder of that guaranteed money. Hernandez's appeal was still pending when he hanged himself in his cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Mass.
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.
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said after court, "Hernandez deliberately, consciously and voluntarily chose to end his life".
The prosecutors also pointed to a suicide note Hernandez reportedly left for his fiancee: In it, he wrote "YOU'RE RICH" in underlined capital letters.
An autopsy by the state medical examiner's office determined the cause of death was asphyxia by hanging and the manner of death was suicide.
Hernandez's defense attorneys asked the court to follow that procedure and toss out his April 2015 murder conviction for killing Lloyd.
On May 9, a judge threw out Hernandez's murder conviction, citing abatement ab initio as binding precedent.
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