The family of murder victim Odin Lloyd is expressing gratification that justice was served following the jury’s verdict in the murder trial of Aaron Hernandez, however, the jury's decision and specifics within the first-degree murder conviction caught some in legal circles by surprise, after jurors took 35.5 hours, over seven days to deliberate and reach a consensus in the case.
Well-known Boston Criminal Attorney John Cunha of Cunha and Holcomb Law Firm says in analyzing the jury’s verdict, “ the most surprising element is that the jury did not find deliberate premeditation with malice of forethought. "Or in other words, he says, "the jury didn’t buy the government’s theory that the victim was driven to an isolated park with the intent to kill him. Instead he says, the jury, found extreme atrocity or cruelty, which is more problematic for prosecutors as an appeal process unfolds.”
Cunha says in hindsight, he believes the defense made a mistake when they informed jurors that Hernandez was at the scene when Lloyd was killed. He was surprised by the tactic saying, “the defense may have done it because the evidence placing Hernandez at the scene was so strong, and for them to withhold the information or not concede that he was there, it could have possibly jeopardized all credibility with the jury in trying to argue alternative whereabouts for Hernandez, at the time of the murder.”
The Boston attorney tells WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay, he thought there had been dissension among the jury and speculates that the many hours of discussion at the Fall River courthouse may have been about the issue of no premeditation within their verdict.
