Aaron Hernandez found dead

I have heard of some states that if the defendant passes away before the end of the trial then the charges are dropped.
 
Zeldman said:
I have heard of some states that if the defendant passes away before the end of the trial then the charges are dropped.
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They have a law similar to that there, but he was already convicted but just appealing. I agree with DutchRoller "That makes zero sense. Killing oneself should constitute a voluntary withdrawl of any pending appeals."
 
DutchRoller said:
That makes zero sense. Killing oneself should constitute a voluntary withdrawl of any pending appeals.
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Not really, as distasteful as it is, it is the burden of the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offender is guilty. They managed that in a trial, but that trial is subject to appeal. As long as the appeal is still in process then the defendant is still presumed innocent. His death denies him the opportunity to defend himself, there fore the conviction is vacated. He supposedly committed suicide, that is being disputed by many people who know him. The facility he was being held in is a hellhole, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. There have been other cases where defendants have died, again under the care of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where the convictions have been vacated because of the death and the appeal hadn't been finished. One case I can think of is a pedophile priest who was murdered in his cell by another inmate.

As distasteful as this law is, I can see the reason for it.
 
PaulS said:
Not really, as distasteful as it is, it is the burden of the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offender is guilty. They managed that in a trial, but that trial is subject to appeal. As long as the appeal is still in process then the defendant is still presumed innocent.
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That doesn't make sense. I'm not saying that isn't the way it is, but once you are convicted you are guilty. An appeal doesn't erase guilt. It seems his situation now would be guilty until proven innocent, since he's been found guilty and appealing.
 
BrianNC said:
That doesn't make sense. I'm not saying that isn't the way it is, but once you are convicted you are guilty. An appeal doesn't erase guilt. It seems his situation now would be guilty until proven innocent, since he's been found guilty and appealing.
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Look, I'm not a lawyer, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but the explanation I heard is that the judgement isn't complete until the appeal is done, basically he didn't get his day in court.
 
Anyone think it might have been accidental?

There's some weird fascination with auto-eroticism involving asphyxiation.

No first-hand knowledge - at the Police Academy we had a rep from the Medical Examiners office show us some slides of accidental deaths from such things gone wrong.

Just a thought.
 
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FastEddieB said:
Anyone think I might have been accidental?

There's some weird fascination with auto-eroticism involving asphyxiation.

No first-hand knowledge - at the Police Academy we had a rep from the Medical Examiners office show us some slides of accidental deaths from such things gone wrong.

Just a thought.
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I believe that was how the lead singer of INXS died.
 
FastEddieB said:
Anyone think it might have been accidental?

There's some weird fascination with auto-eroticism involving asphyxiation.

No first-hand knowledge - at the Police Academy we had a rep from the Medical Examiners office show us some slides of accidental deaths from such things gone wrong.

Just a thought.
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That's a good point, but they said they found him with John 3:16 written on his forehead with read ink and a bible opened to that verse.
 
MassPilot said:
If that happens then I hope the victims' families successfully sue his estate and get that money.
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Apparently, it protects the murderer's heirs from being sued by the victim's family. Completely illogical but that seems to be MA law according to what I heard on Sports talk radio this morning.
 
orange said:
Apparently, it protects the murderer's heirs from being sued by the victim's family. Completely illogical but that seems to be MA law according to what I heard on Sports talk radio this morning.
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What I heard is that they can't just use the criminal proceedings as evidence in a civil trial. Instead they have to essentially prove his guilt from scratch, as if the criminal trial never happened. Fortunately for them, the standards of proof are lower in a civil trial then they are for criminal. It's just like how O.J. Simpson was found not guilty at his criminal trial and then found responsible for the deaths at a civil trial.
 
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Hate to associate him with some of the people IN that group, but now he's a member of the "27 club". Though everyone IN that club is a musician, he was 27 when he offed himself....
 
Ditto on the "good riddance" club....
 
Timbeck2 said:
Joni is dead.
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I really had to refrain when one of my acquaintances on FB said she "Always wanted to be like Joni".

I was thinking, "A heroin addict?"

Never quite understood people wanting to be like acted characters. Plenty of real life folks who aren't acting to emulate or want to be like if you're into the whole "I need to be someone other than myself" crowd.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Oh. Didn't she die several years ago? I was never a big fan. I never liked the high falsetto thing she tried to do sometimes.
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I think she's still kicking in her 70s now. Wasn't crazy about her either but she has a few songs I like. A great song writer they say though.
 
1600vw said:
The found him with a noose around his neck and naked. They said drugs where in his system not that the drugs killed him..
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Oh vey. I liked their music way back when. Everything to live for, yet the demons still got him. Sorry for the thread creep.
 
Sad story:

An autopsy has revealed that Erin Moran “likely succumbed to complications of stage 4 cancer.”

“A joint investigation into Mrs. Moran’s death was conducted by the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department and the Harrison County Coroner’s Office. A subsequent autopsy revealed that Mrs. Moran likely succumbed to complications of stage 4 cancer,” Sheriff Rod Seelye said in a statement sent to Fox News.

Toxicology results are pending but no illegal narcotics were discovered at Moran’s Indiana residence, the statement revealed.
 
PaulS said:
As long as the appeal is still in process then the defendant is still presumed innocent.
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No, that is not true. He was considered guilty after the verdict. Otherwise, he would have been walking the streets rather than sitting in prison serving a sentence. As the "appellant," the burden was on him to prove the conviction should be overturned.
 
PPC1052 said:
No, that is not true. He was considered guilty after the verdict. Otherwise, he would have been walking the streets rather than sitting in prison serving a sentence. As the "appellant," the burden was on him to prove the conviction should be overturned.
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Ah, details, like I said somewhere, I'm not a lawyer, he is not guilty now.

As a layman, I can see the value of this law if someone comes to an untimely end either due to malfeasance or natural causes. For suicide the conviction should stick.
 
PaulS said:
As a layman, I can see the value of this law if someone comes to an untimely end either due to malfeasance or natural causes. For suicide the conviction should stick.
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To me, it would make more sense to simply dismiss the appeal as moot. But, Mass. didn't ask me my opinion.
 
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