Aaron Hernandez's suicide leaves legal loose ends from his final years

[bluedigger]

Because Hernandez died before he exhausted his appeals, Hernandez’s convictions for murder and three other charges are technically void. Massachusetts is among the states that recognizes “abatement ab initio,” a legal principle that reasons that since a convicted defendant has a right to an appeal, the failure to exhaust that appeal before the defendant dies leaves the conviction in doubt. This is true even though, as explained above, Hernandez’s chances for a successful appeal were slim.

When a prisoner commits suicide, the correctional facility housing the inmate and other law enforcement agencies will investigate how and why the suicide took place. Correctional facilities use various protocols to prevent inmate suicides, including visually observing the inmate at routine times and monitoring his or her mental health to determine if he or she may be inclined to attempt suicide. If an inmate is deemed to be a suicide risk, the inmate will be monitored more closely and denied access to materials that could facilitate a suicide attempt. At this stage, it is unknown how the correctional facility and its healthcare providers viewed Hernandez’s mental health and whether the facility adequately assessed Hernandez’s mental health needs.

Along those lines, an inmate committing suicide sometimes leads to the family of the deceased filing a lawsuit against the correctional facility. The Fourteenth Amendment’s due process rights, as well as the Eighth Amendment, which safeguards against cruel and unusual punishment, ensure that inmates receive adequate treatment while housed at correctional facilities. The family of an inmate can argue that if prison officials knew or should have known that the deceased inmate was especially vulnerable to a suicide attempt, those officials were obligated to take reasonable steps to prevent such an attempt. Prison officials can’t exhibit deliberate indifference to inmates who are deemed suicide risks. Whether any evidence surfaces that suggests Hernandez was a suicide threat and whether prison officials ignored such evidence is unknown at this time, but Hernandez’s former agent Brian Murphy expressed skepticism Wednesday morning that Hernandez would take his own life.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/04/19/aaron-hernandez-death-suicide-murder-trial

I'd never heard of “abatement ab initio" before.

[exboyfil]

1. This could be really important for

any wrongful death suits from the family of the victim that he was convicted of killing. Estoppel means that the actual wrongful death cannot be argued if the conviction stood, only the nature of the damages. With this event proving the wrongful death will have to be relitigated.

[bluedigger]

2. No idea if any such suits were being pressed.

But it sounds as if there probably isn't much left in his estate to go after.

[exboyfil]

3. It appears there is a $5M lawsuit

You are right about how much of the $20M+ salary and endorsements is left.

I wonder how any life insurance is structured. Did he have it put in someone's name, or does it go into the estate? If he owned the policy does that change how it is handled?

Here is the mom looking for a summary judgement.

http://whdh.com/news/odin-lloyds-family-asks-for-summary-judgement-in-wrongful-death-lawsuit/

[gopiscrap]

4. Didn't he play for the Patriots?