BOSTON — A Massachusetts judge on Wednesday rejected a request by lawyers for former National Football League player Aaron Hernandez to overturn his conviction for the 2013 murder of an acquaintance.
A jury in April found Hernandez guilty of murdering semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd at a North Attleborough, industrial park not far from Hernandez's home.
The former New England Patriots tight end is awaiting a second trial in December on charges of fatally shooting two Cape Verdean nationals outside a Boston nightclub in 2012, after a dispute involving a spilled drink.
Massachusetts Superior Court Associate Justice Susan Garsh rejected a defense claim that the prosecution, which never produced a murder weapon and relied largely on circumstantial evidence, had failed to prove its case.