Aaron Hernandez Pleads the Fifth
Well, his lawyers filed papers for the case in court on Wednesday. Lets just say Hernandez is clinging to his fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination.
Specifically, the sentence "Defendant asserts his rights under the Fifth Amendment and, therefore, declines to respond to the allegations" appears in the filing 13 times.
According to the lawsuit, the incident stemmed from an argument between Hernandez and his friend, 31 year old Alexander Bradley, at the tastefully named strip club Tootsie's Caberet on February 13. Later that night, the two were driving towards Palm Beach when Hernandez pointed a guy at Bradley and fired. Bradley was found later that night lying in the fetal position, bleeding from the head with his eyes swollen shut. He has lost his right eye as a result and undergone multiple surgeries.
The original police investigation of the shooting was closed when Bradley told police he didn't know who had shot him and was uncooperative with the rest of the investigation. However, four months later, Hernandez was named as the defendant in a lawsuit filed by Bradley. It is probably not a coincidence that the lawsuit was filed after the Lloyd case had become national news.
Former lawyer and current Profootballtalk editor Mike Florio notes that Hernandez's silence could still bring on legal ramifications. Unlike criminal cases, where the juries are specifically instructed not to hold silence against a defendant, civil cases allow the jury to draw their own conclusions from a defendant's unwillingness to testify. Refusing to even address the allegations doesn't exactly paint a picture of an innocent man.
The case also has interesting financial ramifications due to the ongoing Lloyd saga. A judge denied Hernandez's request to delay the proceedings until the murder charges from the Lloyd case are resolved. Hernandez is a wealthy man, but he won't be for long as his legal fees continue to mount. As Florio notes, Bradley's anticipated compensation might have to come from the bonus money the Patriots are currently fighting to void.
We'll all just have to wait and see how the Dave Chappelle legal strategy works for Mr. Hernandez.
