The case that seemed so strong for the prosecution to begin with is starting to look pretty shaky. They have a lot of circumstantial evidence, but not the smoking gun.
That doesn’t mean they can’t get a conviction, but it is going to be a lot harder. Paul Solotaraff one of the writers on the Rolling Stone piece about Hernandez says his sources believe Hernandez could be back in the league within 3-4 years.
“I think (the case) is not only beatable, (but) I think he will be back in the NFL within three or four years,” Rolling Stones contributing editor Paul Solotaroff said on The Doug Gottlieb Show. “I think they’ve grossly overcharged him based on the case they’re building — no direct eye witness, no murder weapon (and) no plausible motive.”
“His principle nemesis at this point is likely to be the five gun charges levied against him; I think they got him dead to right on most of those,” Solotaroff said. “But as crazy as it sounds, this is a guy with no priors. So asking a judge to sentence Hernandez to consecutive prison bids — rather than contemporary ones – is going to be a very hard sell for the prosecution. And if in fact he winds up doing three years behind (bars for) those gun charges – which would be a lot in this case — he’s 26, 27, with very low mileage on those legs of his and a lot of time to heal up. My sources tell me there will be more than one NFL team pursuing him hotly when he walks out of jail in four years.”
I find it hard to believe any team would want to deal with the PR headache, but in the end it comes down to wins/losses.
If Hernandez wins in court, maybe someone will take the chance.