NFL

Defense Rests in Aaron Hernandez's Murder Trial

Disgraced former NFL player Aaron Hernandez is accused of gunning down two men at a Boston stoplight in 2012

The defense has rested its case in the double-murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez.

Lawyers for Hernandez called their final witnesses Wednesday. Hernandez was not called to testify in his own defense.

The former tight end for the New England Patriots is charged in the fatal shootings of two men after a brief encounter in a Boston nightclub in July 2012. He has pleaded not guilty in this case.

Wednesday's testimony was a final effort to bolster the defense's theory that the slayings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado weren't the result of a drive-by shooting by Hernandez, but instead a gun fight in which the victims participated.

Hernandez's defense brought in their own expert to testify about the gunshot wounds to Furtado and de Abreu. 

Dr. Jamie Downs, the defense's expert, said he took issue with the autopsy reports done by the state's medical examiner, who testified last week.

The defense also brought in a shirt resembling Furtado's on the night he was killed to demonstrate their point to jurors. Attorneys for the disgraced NFL player argued the holes and wounds to Furtado's arm show the gun was pointed up, suggesting that when he was seated in the passenger seat of the BMW he was killed in, he could have been holding and pointing a gun out the window before he was shot by a car driving past.

Wednesday's discussion took a toll on the family of the victims in court lisenting to Downs' testimony and frustrated the prosecution, who fired back at the assertions.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday.

Hernandez is serving a life sentence in the 2013 killing of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd.

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