By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Fall River, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was in court on Wednesday for a pretrial hearing and briefly took the stand to answer questions from the judge regarding a possible conflict of interest for one of his attorneys.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty in September to a charge of first-degree murder and five accompanying weapons charges in the death of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year- old semi-pro football player from the Boston area who was dating the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend.
Lawyers presented a number of pretrial motions, including a surprising one from the prosecution to have Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh recuse herself from the case, before Hernandez took the stand to answer questions from the judge regarding one of his attorneys.
Hernandez gave simple yes-no responses to numerous questions from Garsh, including his understanding of the charges against him, then asked about a potential conflict of interest regarding defense attorney Michael Fee, who has a professional relationship with the wife of assistant district attorney Pat Bomberg.
Hernandez said he was made aware of the professional relationship and said he still wanted Fee as one of his representatives.
Other items discussed Tuesday in the nearly one-hour hearing included motions to stop leaks to the media and the prosecution's responsibility to preserve evidence.
Another pretrial hearing was set for December.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/hernandez-in-court-for-pretrial-hearing