re: Ex-Patriot TE Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction officially vacated

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yes... the Patriots are now obligated to pay him the money b/c he technically died an innocent man

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Well fricking Played. Think about it.
The tax-payers are off the hook, his family can share the money, and the only people hurt by this are the Patriots.

Who the frick likes the Patriots other than when they play the Falcons in the Superbowl?

I'm pretty sure the money already counted against the cap though.

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he gets to preserve his estate by biting the bag,


That is not what made him popular...

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More like biting the pillow AMIRITE

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That's an absolutely idiotic law.

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It's the exact same in Louisiana.

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OK, still absolutely idiotic.

All them lawyers said....

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OK, still absolutely idiotic. You're clearly not getting that I don't care how widespread the law is. It's

no less idiotic because it's law in a lot of places.

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You have any actual arguable reason to support your position, or are you just basing it off this scenario?

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So even though they had been found guilty, it defaults back to innocent if you die. That's stupid.

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I'll let the Louisiana Supreme Court tell you their reasons in the seminal case from 1976.

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Most courts which have considered the matter have recognized the rule that death pending appeal of a defendant convicted of a criminal offense abates not only the appeal, but likewise all proceedings had in the prosecution from its inception. For collection of authorities too numerous for citation see Annotations, 83 A.L.R.2d 864 (1962), 9 A.L.R.3rd 462, 496 (1966). A number of reasons are advanced for the rule. The purposes for enforcement of criminal laws are the punishment and reform of the guilty and the protection of the public; the removal of the defendant by death prevents the execution of any sentence in furtherance of these objectives. Further consideration of such a case by the courts is pointless because an affirmance of the conviction would not enable the State to execute the judgment against the deceased. A decision of the appeal would not necessarily produce a vindication of the defendant; appellate disposition, even if reversible error is found, does not guarantee a judgment of acquittal. Often, the appeal results only in a new trial, for which the deceased would be unavailable. State v. Carter, 299 A.2d 891 (Me.1973); Hartwell v. State, 423 P.2d 282 (Alaska 1967); Raymond v. State, 246 Ind. 422, 206 N.E.2d 139 (1965); Bagley v. Florida, 122 So.2d 789 (Fla.App. 1960); State v. Kriechbaum, 219 Iowa 457, 258 N.W. 110 (1934). Nevertheless, the surviving family has an interest in preserving, unstained, the memory of the deceased defendant or his reputation. This interest is of sufficient legal significance to require that a judgment of conviction not be permitted to become a final and definitive judgment of record when its validity or correctness has not been finally determined because the defendant's death has caused a pending appeal to be dismissed. State v. Carter, supra; State v. Kriechbaum, supra; Bagley v. Florida, supra.4

There is authority to the contrary. See Annotations, 9 A.L.R.3rd 462 (1966); 83 A.L.R.2d 864 (1962). The courts holding a different view, however, either fail to give any reasons for the position taken, e.g., Dove v. United States, 423 U.S. 325, 96 S.Ct. 579, 46 L.Ed.2d 531, 18 Cr.L.R. 4138 (1976) (which appears inconsistent with the decision by the Supreme Court in Durham v. United States, 401 U.S. 481, 91 S.Ct. 858, 28 L.Ed.2d 200 (1971)), or, in our opinion, do not advance reasons as sound as those given for the majority rule. Accordingly, we adopt the majority rule and hold that because of defendant's death while the appeal was pending, the judgment of conviction must be vacated and all proceedings in the prosecution abated from its inception.

State v. Morris, 328 So. 2d 65, 67 (La. 1976)

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It doesn't mean you are innocent. It means there is no point in continuing the case and the proceedings are abated.

If he had died before he was arrested, even if clearly guilty, the result would be the same.

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Did a rock fall on your head? I don't need caselaw to say it's a stupid law in my opinion.

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If you are going to say something is stupid, you should set out your reasons. I still don't see any that you've pointed to.

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This isn't the same thing at all.

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They call them analogies, but I guess that rock hit you too. He had a chance to prevail on appeal, as the case was not yet final. A higher court could have thrown out his conviction, and he would be innocent again. Just the same as the guy who was clearly guilty that died before he could be tried.

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Does this have an impact on the $ the Patriots owe to his contract?

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Nope... That ship has done sailed. Also do you think that any NFL team would not put a suicide clause in a contract? His daughter will be taken care of I am sure the NFLPA has a fund for situations like this.