Earlier this week, Aaron Hernandez’ attorneys complained that his former team, the New England Patriots, was dragging its feet on releasing the ex-player’s employee records. Now Hernandez’ lawyers are asking a judge to issue a subpoena to force the team to release those records.
On Tuesday, June 17, Hernandez defense attorney Michael Fee complained publicly that the team was not helping him defend the embattled player who is being tried for the murders of three people in two separate incidents. The NFL team, Mr. Fee said, was refusing to release Hernandez’ employee records and this was hampering his defense of the ex-player.
But it has now been learned that the Hernandez legal team decided not to merely rely on the team’s willingness to release those records and filed a motion seeking legal means to obtain them. Further, by seeking Hernandez’ “medical records and psychological test results,” the lawyers may have opened a window into how they plan to defend their client.
“The records… are potentially evidentiary and relevant in this case, in that they may bear upon his circumstances and state-of-mind prior to the alleged offense, as well as his physical and mental state at the time,” Hernandez’ attorneys said in the motion they filed on June 17.
The Hernandez defense team went to pains to note that “This application is made in good faith and is not intended as a general ‘fishing expedition.'”
The lawyers seek “any and all records” pertaining to Hernandez’s employment with the Patriots from 2010 to 2013, “”including, but not limited to, psychological testing, medication records, X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, drug or alcohol abuse-related records, other medical records, physical therapy records, scouting reports, and investigative reports.”
With the emphasis on “psychological testing” and brain scans, some suspect that Hernandez’ defense team is mulling a possible insanity defense or some other defense based on reduced mental capacity.
With recent news made about the risk of brain damage due to repeated concussions, one might expect that to feature in the arguments of the defense.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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