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title: Judge Erases Murder Conviction Against Former NFL Player Aaron Hernandez | TIME
description: A judge on Tuesday erased a 2013 murder conviction against former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, ruling that case law in Massachusetts had long established that defendants who die before their appeals are heard could have their convictions vacated
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og:description: A judge on Tuesday erased a 2013 murder conviction against former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, ruling that case law in Massachusetts had long established that defendants who die before their appeals are heard could have their convictions vacated
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# Judge Erases Murder Conviction Against Former NFL Player Aaron Hernandez

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fJzocMDr.m3u8" -->
## Video: Judge Erases Murder Conviction Against Former NFL Player Aaron Hernandez

[Watch (HLS stream): Judge Erases Murder Conviction Against Former NFL Player Aaron Hernandez](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fJzocMDr.m3u8) (1:06)

![Judge Erases Murder Conviction Against Former NFL Player Aaron Hernandez](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fJzocMDr/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2017-05-09. A judge on Tuesday erased a 2013 murder conviction against former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, ruling that case law in Massachusetts had long established that defendants who die before their appeals are heard could have their convictions vacated_


---

Jul 27, 2023 9:55 PM UTC

---

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### Court Reinstates Murder Conviction for Former NFL Star Aaron Hernandez

[Know Right Now: Aaron Hernandez Found Guilty](/video/orbsacnG/)

### Know Right Now: Aaron Hernandez Found Guilty

[Aaron Hernandez Charged with Murder](/video/mZ0YojZL/)

### Aaron Hernandez Charged with Murder

---


## Transcript

The interests of justice I conclude do not warrant a departure from the doctrine of abatement under the theory that suicides constitutes waiver of the right to appeal, or the theory that suicide constitutes forfeiture by wrongdoing. Finally the commonwealth argued in it's brief argued that the interests of justice warrant not abating Hernandez's convictions on the grounds that he had a negligible Probability of success on appeal. None of the Massachusetts cases discussing abatement hint that the merits of the appeal might be relevant. In any event, Hernandez did not yet file a motion for a new trial or appellate briefs before his death, and this court cannot speculate as to the potential grounds he may have raised.

to challenge his convictions. There'd be no reason to recognize any exception in this case in the interest of justice, the court has no choice but to abate the proceedings of initio by vacating Hernandez' convictions and dismissing the charges against him and his appeal

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