Aaron Hernandez attorney jokes about Deflategate

James Rowan, Sportress:

James Sultan, attorney for former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez for the murder trial related to the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, was rebuked on Friday by the judge presiding over the case after the lawyer cracked a joke about Deflategate during testimony the previous day.

Sultan was questioning a state trooper about tire inflation when he asked if the officer if he ever had any “training in football deflation devices” in a joking manner.

According to Judge Susan Garsh, the attorney for Aaron Hernandez, James Sultan had better start taking this seriously. “I apologize to the court,” said Sultan.

The murder trial, related to the killing of Odin Lloyd by Aaron Hernandez, will not mirror the famous murder case of O.J. Simpson. The only similarities will be that both were football players charged with murder. Judge Susan Garsh will not be demeaned in any fashion, nor will her courtroom be a laughingstock as was the case involving Judge Lance Ito in the O.J. Simpson trial

One juror has been already been removed. Ursala Ward, the mother of the victim Odin LLoyd, was intructed " not to cry" on the witness stand, and the trial is not yet a week old. The jurors recently visited the home of the accused, Aaron Hernandez.

In the O.J. Simpson trial, O.J.'s residence was made to look like the perfect home with family photos, trophies and a bible on the table in plain view. The staged performance by Simpson's attorney, Johnnie Cochrane won points with the jury. With the Hernandez trial, under the watchful of Judge Susan Garsh, there was no repeat of such shenanigans.

Right church, wrong pew.

There’s a time and a place for attempts at humor, a murder trial likely isn’t either of them.

Attorney James Sultan received that message in a hurry.


Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.

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