By MICHELLE R. SMITH Associated Press FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) _ Prosecutors laid out what they called compelling forensic evidence _ Aaron Hernandez’s DNA on a marijuana cigarette shared with the friend they say he killed _ as the ex-NFL star’s trial got underway. Jurors were to hear more testimony Friday in the case against the former New England Patriots standout, whose lawyers portrayed him as a man with “the world at his feet” and no reason to kill. With his ex-teammates about to play in the Super Bowl, Hernandez listened intently to Thursday’s opening statements. They offered insights into the prosecution’s case against him and the defense’s strategy to prove his innocence in the 2013 slaying of semipro football player Odin Lloyd. Hernandez, 25, who caught Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s last Super Bowl touchdown pass in the Patriots’ 2012 loss to the New York Giants, is charged in the shooting death of 27-year-old Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée. Lloyd’s bullet-riddled body was found in an industrial park near Hernandez’s North Attleborough home, not far from Gillette Stadium. Hernandez _ who had a $40 million contract as a tight end but was cut by the Patriots […]
↧