An attorney for Aaron Hernandez's recently indicted fiancee charges Bristol County prosecutors with using "abusive" legal tactics in an effort to pressure her into providing information and evidence against Hernandez.
A grand jury indicted Shayanna Jenkins on perjury charges earlier this month in connection with the first-degree murder charges the former New England Patriots tight end faces in the killing of one-time associate Odin Lloyd.
Based on state law in cases of capital murder, Jenkins, who has a child with Hernandez and began dating him when the two were still in high school, faces a possible sentence of life in prison if convicted, according to The Boston Globe.
"The government actions in this case are abusive and overreaching," Jenins' attorney Janice Bassill told the newspaper. "I don't believe they have sufficient evidence."
Hernandez, who has pleaded not guilty to murder and gun charges, allegedly summoned two friends from Bristol, Conn., to Massachusetts in the hours before Lloyd was found shot to death in a North Attleborough industrial park. He remains jailed without bond and relegated to solitary confinement.
The two alleged co-conspirators have been identified as Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, both of whom also remain jailed.
Bassil said that Jenkins, who has not faced any criminal charges until her indictment, is now being targeted because of her connection to Hernandez.
"I believe they are just simply trying to add pressure,'' she told The Globe. "They are trying to pressure her, but perhaps they are also trying to pressure him through her. There is a famous saying, a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. I look forward to challenging this in court. I really do. If a grand jury is supposed to protect citizens from overreaching prosecutors, then there is a lot of work to be done here.'
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