Defense attorney Jose Baez once again lived up to his reputation in closing arguments on Thursday with an empassioned plea to the jurors asking them to find his client not guilty.
Baez uncorked several memorable lines during his closing and even appeared to gallop (like a horse) at one point.
“How many cockroaches do you need in your food until you send it back. I say one,” Baez told the jurors. He also said at one point, “They’re handing out immunity in this class like it’s candy on Halloween.”
Baez began his closing by reminding jurors of the awesome burden that comes with being a juror and that the the judge reminded them to “make sure [to] remember every single thing that relates to reasonable doubt.”
On that point, Baez began to hit the prosecution for failing to meet its burden of proof in the case, saying it failed to present any evidence that Hernandez committed the crime on that night in July 2012.
“There is absolutely no evidence that Aaron Hernandez committed this crime,” Baez said.
He then methodically went through the prosecution’s theory of the case and argued they had presented no evidence to support its theory. Specifically, he mentioned the supposed “spilled drink” at the night club that prosecutors say set Hernandez’s off and caused him to shoot up the victims’ BMW later that night.
Baez said that story came from prosecution star witness Alexander Bradley, who took an immunity deal to testify for prosecution. Baez told jurors Bradley “lied” and called him “a perjurer.” He said it was proved by the fact that Cure nightclub cameras had no video evidence of the alleged drink incident, which “should scream volumes at” jurors about Bradley’s credibility.
He continued by blaming police for conducting a poor investigation into the shootings and said that it was amazing it took them so long to determine Hernandez was the alleged shooter. Baez argued in reality that investigators knew all along it was a drug deal gone wrong and failed to investigate it as such. He told jurors “the police actually knew what was going on down there” the night of the killings.
“There’s absolutely no proof that anybody spilled anything on Aaron” Baez reiterated. He then added, it was proof of “reasonable doubt ladies and gentlemen … reasonable doubt lives here … throughout this entire case.”
Baez thanked the jurors for their service and the Commonwealth with now present its closings.
[image via screengrab]