Lawyers for former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, currently awaiting trial for the murder of former associate Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semipro football player, are outraged at the length of the witness list revealed by the prosecution.
The witness list has several glossy names on it, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Buffalo Bills linebacker Brandon Spikes and Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey.
In all the list contained more than 300 names-the defense is calling this a disruptive tactic done purposely to hinder their ability to prepare for cross-examinations.
"It is inconceivable that the Commonwealth will actually call each of the 305 witnesses it identified as a prospective witness . . . or that the Court will allow it to do so," Hernandez's team wrote in a motion to have the list cut down.
"Thus, the effect of this inflated witness list is to conceal the identities of the witnesses the Commonwealth actually intends to call while forcing defense counsel to waste their limited time and resources investigating and preparing to cross-examine myriad individuals whom the Commonwealth does not intend to call at all."
The prosecution countered that Hernandez's star attorneys are backed by firms with enough resources to handle the preparation. Judge Susan E. Garsh sided with the prosecution, but did warn against extending the trial unnecessarily.
"Parties, however, are urged to pare down lists to the extent practical to avoid an unnecessarily protracted trial," Garsh wrote.
The overwhelming list and information regarding Hernandez's trial forced his lawyers to push for a delay in another trial that has yet to begin. Hernandez also stands accused of killing two men in 2012, Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, following an incident in a Boston nightclub.
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