Ex-Patriots star Aaron Hernandez back in court for double murder trial

Former New England Patriots NFL football player Aaron Hernandez in a 2015 file photo. (ap)

BOSTON (AP) – Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is due in court for a status conference in his upcoming double murder trial.

Hernandez is scheduled to stand trial in February in the 2012 killings of two men he encountered in a Boston nightclub.

Prosecutors say Hernandez gunned down Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado after de Abreu accidentally bumped into Hernandez in the club, causing him to spill his drink.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty. A judge is expected to get a status report on the case on Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court.

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