The image of Aaron Hernandez weeping in a Boston courtroom is burned into the memory of anyone who followed the 2017 double-murder trial. It was a bizarre, heavy moment. Here was a man already serving life without parole for the death of Odin Lloyd, yet he was sobbing with relief because a jury just said he didn't kill Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu.
At the center of that improbable "not guilty" was Jose Baez.
Most people remember Baez as the guy who got Casey Anthony off. He’s the lawyer people hire when the world has already decided they’re a monster. When he took on Hernandez, the narrative was simple: a thuggish NFL star with a penchant for violence killed two men over a spilled drink at a nightclub. Open and shut, right? Not even close.
The "Three-Legged Pony" Strategy
Winning a case like this isn't about proving your client is a saint. Honestly, nobody was going to believe Aaron Hernandez was a saint by 2017. He had "Blood" tattoos and a life sentence. Instead, Baez went for the throat of the prosecution’s star witness, Alexander Bradley.
Bradley was the one who claimed Hernandez pulled the trigger from the passenger seat of a silver Toyota 4Runner. But Baez turned the tables. He didn't just cross-examine Bradley; he dismantled him. He called Bradley a "three-legged pony" and literally galloped in front of the jury to show how ridiculous the state's case looked.
It was theater. But it was effective theater.
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Baez’s whole vibe was basically: "You’re going to trust this guy?" He painted Bradley as the actual shooter, a drug dealer with plenty of reasons to lie to save his own skin. By the time Baez was done, the jury didn't necessarily think Hernandez was a "good guy." They just didn't trust the story they were being told. That’s how you win. You don't need the truth; you just need a better story than the other guy.
More Than Just a Lawyer
If you look at the relationship between Jose Baez and Aaron Hernandez, it wasn't just a business transaction. It was weirdly personal. Baez later wrote a book called Unnecessary Roughness where he talked about how Hernandez was actually quite sensitive and soft-spoken in private.
Think about that for a second.
The media saw a killer; Baez saw a kid from Bristol who was totally overwhelmed by his own life. They spoke on the phone the night before Hernandez died. Baez told him to "decompress" for a week. He thought they were about to overturn the Odin Lloyd conviction too. They had momentum. Hernandez sounded happy.
Then, five days after the acquittal, Hernandez was found hanging in his cell.
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The CTE Factor and the "Secret" Brain
One of the biggest bombshells Baez dropped after the trial wasn't about the law at all. It was about science. After Hernandez died, Baez fought the state of Massachusetts to get Aaron’s brain released to Boston University.
What they found was terrifying.
At 27, Aaron Hernandez had Stage 3 CTE. Researchers said it was the most severe case they had ever seen in someone that age. His brain looked like it belonged to a 60-year-old man with dementia.
Baez argued that this brain damage explained the paranoia and the impulsive violence. It didn't excuse the actions, but it provided a context that the "thug" narrative ignored. Baez has since become a massive critic of youth tackle football, even calling it "child abuse" in some interviews. He blames the game for what happened to Aaron’s mind.
Why This Case Still Sticks With Us
People hate Jose Baez. People hate Aaron Hernandez. But you can't deny the legal masterclass that happened in that courtroom. Baez took a man who was already "buried" by the legal system and gave him a massive, if short-lived, victory.
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Here is what you need to understand about the Baez/Hernandez saga:
- Credibility is everything. The prosecution relied on a witness who was arguably as "bad" as the defendant.
- Reasonable doubt isn't "innocence." The jury didn't say Hernandez was a hero; they said the state didn't prove he was a killer in this specific instance.
- The tragedy didn't end with the verdict. The acquittal was followed by a suicide that basically wiped the legal slate clean under the "abatement by death" rule (though that was later contested).
Moving Forward: Lessons for the Legal Mind
If you're looking at this case as a student of law or just a true crime fan, the takeaway is clear: the "obvious" story is rarely the whole story. Baez won by looking at the gaps—the texts Bradley deleted, the lack of physical evidence inside the car, the shifting stories.
If you want to dive deeper into the mechanics of high-stakes defense, your next steps should be:
- Read the trial transcripts of Alexander Bradley’s cross-examination. It is widely considered one of the best examples of witness impeachment in modern legal history.
- Review the Boston University CTE report on Hernandez. It changes how you view the "spilled drink" motive entirely when you realize his frontal lobe was literally rotting.
- Examine the "Abatement by Death" doctrine. Look into how the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handled Hernandez's first-degree murder conviction after his death. It’s a fascinating legal loophole that almost saw his record wiped clean.
The story of Jose Baez and Aaron Hernandez isn't a happy one. It's a messy, violent, and complicated look at how the American justice system works when the lights are at their brightest.