Aaron Hernandez Trial Continues As Evidence Gets Tossed

((HT: MyFoxBoston))

A trial is in its third day in Massachusetts where attorneys for former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez are looking to throw out as much evidence as they can get judge Susan Garsh to dispose of before any kind of a trial can commence in earnest.

Judge Garsh did throw out evidence found at a so-called "flophouse" that Hernandez rented. That evidence included ammunition that the prosecution feels may have been related to the murder of Hernandez acquaintance Odin Lloyd. A cell phone and a home survelliance system that were also gathered by Massachusetts police are still in evidence and were not disqualified.

Here's the latest out of Fall River
Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

The trial continues Friday.

Filing: Former Vandy Coach Franklin Talked To Alleged Campus Rape Victim

((HT: WSMV-TV/ESPN-Bennett))

Brian Bennett has news that a new defense filing in the on-campus assault case involving four former Vanderbilt football players from last June details contact between then-head football coach James Franklin and the defendant in the case.

The attorney for Brandon Vandenburg, one of the four former Vanderbilt football players up on rape charges, requested the charge against his client be dismissed because the state failed to preserve evidence.

Tony Gonzalez's article in the Tennessean details it, including:

• the majority of more than 27,000 messages and 220 calls on the alleged victim's phone, of which just 47 calls or texts were provided to the defense;

• text messages between Vandenburg and the alleged victim, as well as between him and former wide receiver Chris Boyd and co-defendant Cory Batey;

• text messages and phone records from three team staff members — former head coach James Franklin, former director of performance enhancement Dwight Galt, and associate director of athletics Kevin Colon;

• texts and social media posts from players and the victim's friends;

• police interview records with a close acquaintance of the alleged victim;

• DNA test results from another man;

• an interview with the girlfriend of former starting quarterback Austyn Carta Samuels; and

• other police notes and medical records.

The new filing says that Franklin and strength coach Dwight Galt also talked to the female four days after the rape.

Bennett's key paragraph (from Gonzalez's article):

Franklin and Galt told the victim "that they cared about her because she assisted them with recruiting," according to the filing. Later, the defense said, "Coach Franklin called her in for a private meeting and told her he wanted her to get 15 pretty girls together and form a team to assist with the recruiting even though he knew it was against the rules. He added that all the other colleges did it."

Franklin and Galt are now both at Penn State and the Nittany Lions head coach didn't want to talk to anyone about the filing.

Here's some background from February where it was thought that Vandenburg was even going as far as saying things against Batey. Batey's attorney claimed the act was to keep Batey from getting a fair trial...
WSMV Channel 4

The case is set to go to trial in August.

DEVELOPING: Winston Not To Be Charged (UPDATED)

Various sources are saying that FSU QB Jameis Winston will not be charged in the current sexual assault investigation ongoing by Tallahassee DA and Florida State Attorney's Offices...

Details of the allegations came out today with the release of the warrants, including:

Police said the woman recalled getting into a taxi with a “non-descript” black male and entering a ground-floor apartment, at which point the man took off her clothes and raped her as she tried to fight him off.
The search-warrant request said at some point the woman told police a black man with dreadlocks came into the room and told the man to stop, but the suspect led her into a bathroom where he “completed the act.”

More as we go with the press conference coming at the top of the hour...

1400 UPDATE: State Attorney Willie Meggs says the timing of the decision being the week before the ACC title game is "not driven by any Heisman demands or football schedule."

So says he...

Meggs also says he didn't have sufficient evidence to have "a reasonable likelihood of conviction..."

Take that however you wish...

The investigation had DNA from two males allegedly involved in the case- one of those identities was unknown, one was Winston's. Meggs said identifying the unknown person was reason the investigation took as long as it did. There was no evidence of drugs in accuser's blood and an alcohol level in her system that was not above the legal limit...

Here's Shelley Smith discussing the content of the warrants...
((HT: ESPN))