The murder conviction of Aaron Hernandez, shown in 2012, has been reinstated by the highest court in Massachusetts. (Elise Amendola/AP)In a precedent-reversing decision, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled Wednesday that Aaron Hernandez’s first-degree murder conviction must be effectively reinstated even though Hernandez killed himself before his appeal could be heard. Hernandez, a former New England Patriots tight end, was convicted in 2015 of the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. The state’s Supreme Judicial Court declared the legal principle, based in English canonical law, that deems a conviction final only if a lower-court finding has been considered by an appeals court was outdated. Under the court’s ruling, the Hernandez conviction will stand, with the court record noting that it was neither affirmed nor reversed because the defendant died while the appeal was pending.

Source: Washington Post March 13, 2019 16:41 UTC