BOSTON (AP) - The Latest on the double-murder trial of ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez (all times local):
4:25 p.m.
The jury in the double-murder trial of ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez has finished a second day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
Jurors were sent home late Monday afternoon after asking a Boston judge to clarify the law on a witness intimidation charge against Hernandez. The judge said he will give the jury further explanation before deliberations resume Tuesday.
Hernandez is charged in the 2012 shootings of two men in a drive-by shooting in Boston. His lawyers say Hernandez’s former friend was the triggerman.
On Monday, a lawyer for Hernandez told Judge Jeffrey Locke that his selection of a white woman as the forewoman on the predominantly minority jury has “troubling racial overtones.” Locke said he found that claim “astounding.”
Hernandez is already serving a life sentence in a 2013 killing.
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10:35 a.m.
A lawyer for former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez has objected to the judge’s selection of a white woman as the jury forewoman in his double-murder trial.
Attorney Ronald Sullivan Jr. made his argument Monday as jurors started their second day of deliberations.
Sullivan said the choice of a white woman on the mostly minority jury “has very troubling racial overtones.” He said choosing her as forewoman ensured she would remain on the jury instead of being dismissed as an alternate.
Judge Jeffrey Locke said he found it “astounding” that Sullivan would make that claim.
Hernandez is charged in the 2012 shootings of two men in a drive-by shooting in Boston. His lawyers say Hernandez’s former friend was the triggerman.
The victims were Cape Verdean. Hernandez’s father is Hispanic, and his mother is Italian.
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