Aaron Hernandez's Murder Conviction Thrown out by Judge After Former TE's Death

Judge E. Susan Garsh threw out the murder conviction of Aaron Hernandez in the Odin L. Lloyd case and dismissed any charges against him Tuesday, according to Maria Cramer and John R. Ellement of the Boston Globe.

Garsh noted that she had no choice due to a Massachusetts law called abatement ab initio, which says that if a defendant dies after being convicted of a crime but before the appeal process is completed, the conviction will be vacated, per Patrick Johnson of MassLive.com. 

The prosecution had argued that because Hernandez killed himself, the conviction should stand.

"This is not a defendant who has arrived at the killing of himself by happenstance," Bristol Assistant District Attorney Patrick Bomberg told Judge Garsh, per Cramer and Ellement. "The defendant should not be able to accomplish in death what he couldn’t accomplish in life."

But Hernandez's appellate attorney, John M. Thompson, noted, "The manner of death has never been a consideration."