The cellphone belonging to former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is now available for prosecutors to examine, after a long-standing legal battle with Hernandez's legal team, according to ESPN.
Hernandez, who is currently serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, is currently awaiting trial in connection with a separate, double-murder from 2012. Prosecutors for the current case are hoping to find key evidence on the cellphone, which was given to Hernandez's former legal team while under investigation for the Lloyd murder.
From ESPN:
In its ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court found that once Hernandez's attorneys downloaded the contents of the phone, they had "no legitimate purpose" for keeping it.
"In such circumstances, the continued retention of this device can only be understood as having the effect of concealing or removing it from the observation of others, namely the Commonwealth," Justice Francis Spina wrote for the court.
Now that the court has ruled in favor of the prosecution, the team is in the process of securing a search warrant for the phone. Hernandez recently hired a new legal team, featuring Jose Baez, who won an acquittal for Casey Anthony in the killing of her daughter.
[h/t ESPN]
