Lawyers representing Aaron Hernandez announce a lawsuit against the NFL and the Patriots in the suicide of the former Patriot. (From L to R) Jose Baez, Linda Kenney Baden, and Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez. Thursday, September 21, 2017. (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill)
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Lawyer: Hernandez Had 'Severe' Case Of CTE
CBS Boston
Attorneys who represented Aaron Hernandez in his double-murder trial said the former New England Patriots player had a "severe case" of CTE and will sue the NFL and the Patriots in federal court for $20 million following his jailhouse suicide.
Jose Baez, who convinced jurors that the one-time rising star was not responsible for the 2012 twin killings, gathered with his defense team to announce the findings from Boston University. Hernandez was found dead in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley on April 19, and authorities have ruled the death a suicide. Baez said the suit will be on behalf of Herandez's daughter's estate.
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Days after Hernandez’s suicide, Baez and other members of his defense team held a combative press conference outside the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Boston, arguing that the state was not releasing their client’s brain. The office eventually sent it to Boston University to be tested for concussion-related anomalies.
In a statement, BU's CTE Center said Herandez's brain had Stage 3 of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The fourth stage is the most severe.
Hernandez’s death came just days after a Suffolk County jury found him not guilty of killing Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
Authorities claim that he hanged himself and was alone when he died. The state’s investigation concluded that there were no signs of a struggle and that Hernandez jammed cardboard into the tracks of the door to his single-inmate cell to “impede entry.”
Hernandez was serving a life sentence at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center after being convicted of first-degree murder in 2015 for the 2013 shooting death of Odin L. Lloyd in North Attleboro. That conviction was washed away after Hernandez’s death under an old Bay State law that declares convicts innocent if they die before they have a chance to appeal.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
So CTE did NOT drive him to murder three people. This is a person who was in a notorious gang since early on. The mother of his child is grabbing onto anything she can sue for in the name of her daughter. Why? Because all the wealth he left behind will be won in wrongful death lawsuits to the families of the people he murdered. CTE had nothing to do with those murders, his evil ways did.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
He IS responsible for his actions. He could have chosen differently, but didn't by choice.
In this "sue happy" culture, I'm not surprised momma is going to try to get as much wealth as she can. That's what she had the kid for anyway. Phhbbtt, about it being about the kid.
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I drink coffee so I don't kill you.
I quilt so I don't kill you.
Do you see a theme?
Faith isn't something that keeps bad things from happening. Faith is what helps us get through bad things when they do happen.
He most likely did have CTE; however, he played football all the way from Pop Warner league through high school and college and then a few years in the NFL. How can they sue the NFL for something that was years in the making?
I agree Scooby. And I am sure the lawyers will bring that up. But the other side will prey on the hearts of the members of the jury and the big pocketbook of the Patriots and NFL.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
I think the could design better helmets. It seems silly that the outside of the helmet is hard. Seems like there should be a softer layer on the outside that absorbs impact versus a hard layer. Obviously this should be a fairly simple thing for engineers to design and determine something that best distributes impact. Old football helmets used to be leather or a soft material. It may actually make sense to go back to that, I don't know. Part of it is that we like hearing helmets crash and that is what is part of football at this point. Also completely using a different kind of helmet has financial implications for all of the youth leagues, High schools, etc. But, I think if they can find a helmet that is significantly safer, then that would be embraced.
