NFL "Teams Behaving Badly" Thread: 2015

[miami_fan]

Another issue for the lawyers to figure out in the future.

How Patriots, NFL could end up owing Hernandez millions

[Atocep]

A friend of mine is convinced the NFL had him killed.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Another issue for the lawyers to figure out in the future.

How Patriots, NFL could end up owing Hernandez millions

It's kind of a head-scratcher of a law. I understand the reason for it legally but morally it seems kind of abusive. I think the same principle allowed Ken Lay's family to keep all the money Lay stole while working at Enron.

[albionmoonlight]

Abatement ab initio is a long settled doctrine in the law.

If you die while your appeal is pending, your conviction is vacated as if it never happened. This is because (1) you never got the right to your appeal, and (2) it does not really make sense to punish a dead guy.

That does not affect civil suits. Say that you punch me, and I sue you for my medical bills and, separate from that, the DA criminally convicts you for assault. Then you die while you are appealing both judgments. Your criminal conviction is vacated. But my civil suit against you continues. Your estate "inherits" the case and a representative from the estate takes over the appeal.

This is complicated by a more recent development in the law called restitution. Basically, if you are convicted of (or plead guilty to) a crime that has a victim, then the judge can order--as part of your criminal sentence--a civil judgment in favor of the victim.

This is a good thing. If you are guilty of something beyond a reasonable doubt, then you are also liable for it in the civil context. And this saves the victim from having to bring a separate suit against you and pay attorneys fees, etc.

So, what happens when you are criminally convicted, have a restitution order as part of that judgment, and then die? Does the restitution order go away because it is part of your criminal sentence? Or, does it stay around like any other civil judgment?

The answer turns out to be really complicated: http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions...64-CR2.wpd.pdf

If you want to go really deep down into tin foil hat land, check this out. The 5th Circuit law was that the restitution survived your death. Then, in this random Parsons case, the entire court decided to revisit the issue and change the law in that circuit. This was all while Enron litigation was happening. Then Ken Lay dies and benefits from this new law.

So, if you are in the "Ken Lay faked his death" camp (which, as conspiracy theories go, is certainly one of the more reasonable ones), take it a step farther and say that he had multiple federal judges in on it for years working to change the law so that when he faked his death, it would help his estate.

[albionmoonlight]

Oh, and the Hernandez thing is yet another wrinkle. He had a contract that made him pay back money if he was convicted (as I understand it). Then the conviction goes away.

[bhlloy]

Tin foil hat... firmly on.

That does kinda fit in with the bible verse right? Jesus came to earth to die for our sins, I'm dying to make sure my family isn't bankrupted by my conviction?

Or have I just not had enough coffee yet this morning?

[Carman Bulldog]

Interesting (and lengthy) article about Hernandez and his brother Jonathan (DJ) on SI from some time last year...

Aaron Hernandez's brother retraces NFL star's path

I just kind of always assumed that he grew up in a troubled environment and never left those friends behind. From what I've read though, he generally grew up in a supportive home and more or less sought out those relationships as a teen/young adult.

[Edward64]

Hernandez was bisexual? If the below is the reason why he murdered Lloyd, what a waste. Quit football, break up with fiance, go into seclusion somewhere in Europe or Asia and live your life.

Details surface on Aaron Hernandez's secret bisexual life - NY Daily News

The secret bisexuality of Aaron Hernandez emerged Friday as a possible motive for murder as the family of the disgraced ex-Patriots star won a court battle to preserve evidence in hisprison suicide.

The 27-year-old former NFLer, the father of a 4-year-old daughter, was a bisexual who penned a suicide note to his prison boyfriend before hanging himself in a Massachusetts’ jail cell earlier this week, Newsweek reported.

In another jolting revelation, the magazine also reported that Hernandez was locked up because of a murder that may have been motivated by a desire to keep his sexuality a secret.

Hernandez’s sexual ambiguity was known to his pal Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of the football star’s fianceé, multiple law enforcement sources told Newsweek.

The 6-foot-1, 245-pound Hernandez may have murdered Lloyd to ensure that he wouldn’t be outed to his bride-to-be, the magazine said.

Hernandez was allegedly involved with a male high school classmate, and he moved a large sum of money into an account for the man before his arrest in the Lloyd killing, according to the report.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Hernandez was bisexual? If the below is the reason why he murdered Lloyd, what a waste. Quit football, break up with fiance, go into seclusion somewhere in Europe or Asia and live your life.

Details surface on Aaron Hernandez's secret bisexual life - NY Daily News

The fact that he would have to do all that (with the exception of breaking up with his fiance) seems like the exact reason he would have killed Lloyd. That is if this is true.