Attorneys for former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez are expected back in court today, seeking to gain his freedom while he fights charges that he orchestrated the murder of Odin L. Lloyd, the 27-year-old Boston man whose body was found in a North Attleborough industrial park June 17.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty in in Attleboro District Court Wednesday to murder and five firearms-related charges. He was ordered held without bail by District Court Judge Daniel J. O’Shea.
Hernandez’s attorneys will now ask a Superior Court judge to review O’Shea’s ruling at a hearing in Bristol Superior Court in Fall River. The hearing is tentatively slated for 2 p.m. today, but may not take place depending on court schedule, officials said.
The bail review, a common procedure in criminal cases, comes after Bristol First Assistant District Attorney William McCauley accused Hernandez in court of planning and carrying out the cold-blooded execution of Lloyd, who lived in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.
During the arraignment, McCauley said footage gathered from several security cameras showed Lloyd getting into a car with Hernandez and arriving at the industrial park near Hernandez’s North Attleborough home with Hernandez. Security footage from Hernandez’s own home later showed him with a gun, the prosecutor said.
During the trip from Boston to North Attleborough, Lloyd texted his sister moments before he was shot to death multiple times with a .45-caliber handgun.
“Did you see who I am with?†Lloyd wrote after 3 a.m., minutes later offering the answer: “NFL.†And then following up with a final text: “Just so you know.â€
The Patriots cut Hernandez after his arrest and removed his name from the team’s website.
According to prosecutors, Hernandez was accompanied by two other men during the Lloyd’s murder, but they have not publicly identified them. Prosecutors said Hernandez summoned friends from his hometown of Bristol, Conn., in the hours before Lloyd was murdered.
Connecticut authorities took Carlos Ortiz, a 27-year-old Bristol, Conn., man on Wednesday after Massachusetts officials issued an arrest warrant, official said. Ortiz is currently being held in Connecticut on $1.5 million bail for probation violation and as a fugitive from justice. It was not immediately clear when he would be brought back to Massachusetts.
Lauren Dezenski can be reached at lauren.dezenski@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenDezenski. Brian Ballou can be reached at bballou@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @globeballou. John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.
