The case for prosecutors in the trial of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez for the murder of Odin Lloyd may have suffered a blow following a ruling from Superior Court Judge Susan E. Garsh.
Evidence gleaned from a number of electronics retrieved from Hernandez's mansion has been ruled inadmissible by Garsh, since police had a warrant for one single cell phone.
"In effect, the Commonwealth maintains that a search warrant for a cell phone with a designated number constitutes authority in all cases to seize every cell phone found at the search site," Garsh wrote in her 28-page ruling.
Hernandez's attorneys have argued that police recovered more than they should have when they searched his home, and Garsh's ruling sided with them.
According to Garsh, the troopers "operated under the misimpression that the Search Warrant authorized the seizure of GPS devices when they seized the cell phones and tablets from Hernandez's residence."
The prosecution had argued the troopers had the right to take all the electronics to determine which one was indeed the phone in question, but the argument was rejected.
In total, an iPhone 5, a Blackberry Bold cellphone, an Apple iPad, and two iPad minis were all seized from the home but it isn't readily apparent what information from which devices have been thrown out.
The information believed to be on the phone authorities were hunting for includes Lloyd's phone number being programmed into it. There are also allegedly several texts and phone calls from Lloyd to Hernandez on the night of his murder. In addition, Hernandez is accused of contacting his accomplices Ernest Wallace Jr. and Carlos Ortiz with the phone.
While Hernandez fights the charges of killing Lloyd, he's also accused of a double murder that happened in 2012 in Boston. Hernandez has been fingered the suspect in a drive-by shooting of two men, Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu, after an altercation inside a Boston nightclub.
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