The fiancée of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez was arraigned today and pleaded “Not guilty” to a perjury charge. Shayanna Jenkins is accused of lying to a Massachusetts grand jury, as well as destroying evidence in the Odin Lloyd murder case.
According to Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Bomberg, Jenkins had a chance for immunity in the case, which she lost after lying to a jury. “She told the grand jury she dumped [the evidence] in a dumpster, but she couldn’t tell anybody where it was,’’ Bomberg said.
The evidence in question is the murder weapon that the prosecution needs for their case against Hernandez. Hernandez gave Jenkins a box the day after Lloyd was killed, which she put in a bag and covered up with baby clothes. Jenkins then drove to a dumpster and got rid of the bag, information she was supposed to relay to a jury back in September. She later said she had no memory of what she did with the bag. Police believe that the murder weapon was in the box.
Jenkins’ lawyer Janice Bassil said that Jenkins wasn’t being dishonest in regards to dumping the bag, but that she simply couldn’t remember which dumpster she used. “It seems to me that this is overreaching, the indictment is overreaching, the statement by [the prosecutor] is overreaching, and the request for bail is overreaching,” said Bassil. Bassil plans to file motions to dismiss the case.
After the arraignment was over, Jenkins was released on a personal recognizance bond. If Jenkins is found guilty, she could face up to 20 years in prison. She will head back to court on November 6.
I trust her just by knowing her first name RT @SportsCenter: Aaron Hernandez girlfriend Shayanna Jenkins pleads not guilty to perjury charge
— JR (@RealReppin) October 15, 2013
RT @SportsCenter: Hernandez girlfriend Shayanna Jenkins pleads not guilty to perjury charge for allegedly lying to grand jury | is she real?
— DM (@DamnDMaddox) October 15, 2013
Aaron Hernandez has been in jail since June 26, when he was taken from his home in police custody. Hernandez is charged with first degree murder, plus has five weapons charges against him. The prosecution says that Hernandez killed Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player, in an execution-style murder. So far police haven’t recovered the murder weapon, a .45-caliber handgun, which is what Jenkins is accused of getting rid of for Hernandez.