Ropes & Gray must give Aaron Hernandez's cellphone to new lawyers, judge rules
Prosecutors have won a round in their attempt to obtain the cellphone of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, who is awaiting trial on double-murder charges.
Judge Jeffrey Locke of Massachusetts on Friday ordered Hernandez’s former law firm, Ropes & Gray, to turn over the cellphone to Hernandez’s current lawyers, the Boston Globe reports. Ropes & Gray defended Hernandez in a different murder for which he was convicted last year.
Locke will give the new lawyers 14 days to examine the phone and discuss the legal impact of its contents with Hernandez. After that, the new lawyers must put the phone in an envelope and await further orders from Locke.
Prosecutors in the Suffolk District Attorney’s office believe the phone contains information about the double murders, and they hope that Locke will issue a search warrant for the device. The phone could also contain information relevant to another charge of witness intimidation against Hernandez in the alleged shooting of an associate.
