The bottom line is there will be aggressive attempts by Hernandez’s attorneys to explain away every piece of evidence that looks bad. Some will be more persuasive than others.
Third, witnesses and alleged accomplices who implicate Hernandez will be portrayed as mistaken in fact or observation, or as motivated to pin the murder on Hernandez in order to escape their own punishment.
Fourth, Hernandez may be able to avoid a conviction on first-degree murder if he can show he did not set out to kill Lloyd. There are different types of murder charges and they vary widely in Massachusetts as elsewhere. First-degree murder centers on premeditation — that Hernandez planned to kill Lloyd and did it. If prosecutors cannot show there was a plan, it would be difficult to convict Hernandez of first-degree murder. Second-degree murder is murder with intent but not premeditation, while voluntary manslaughter is killing in the heat of the moment.