How Aaron Hernandez Will Be Spending Super Bowl Sunday
The former New England Patriots player isn't allowed to watch TV.
— -- Aaron Hernandez helped lead the New England Patriots into the 2011 Super Bowl, but this weekend, the former NFL standout won't even be allowed to watch his teammates take on the Seattle Seahawks on TV, ABC News has learned.
Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson told ABC News that Hernandez is back where he started shortly after his arrest on June 26, 2013, when he was accused of the murder of his one-time friend Odin Lloyd: a 70-square-foot solitary confinement cell in the Special Management Unit in the jail at North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He cannot watch television, have a radio, or even read newspapers there. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty.
"His classification has not changed since the last time he was here," Hodgson said. "He remains under the same restrictions that he was last time he was here."
Those conditions have been the subject of complaints by Hernandez. In a motion filed last year, his defense attorneys successfully requested that Hernandez be moved from the North Dartmouth jail run by Hodgson to a lockup in Boston, saying he had been "subjected to unreasonable restrictions" imposed by the Bristol County Sheriff.
After a jailhouse fight, Hernandez's lawyers also said he felt unsafe, and a judge allowed the move to the Nashua Street jail in Boston. He returned to Bristol County earlier this month for the duration of his ongoing trial in connection with the execution-style murder of Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was dating Hernandez's fiancee's sister.
Hernandez -- who had a $40 million contract as a tight end but was cut by the Patriots just hours after his arrest in Lloyd's slaying -- could get life in prison if convicted. Hernandez is also set to be tried in Boston for a 2012 double murder that took place while he was still playing for the Patriots. Hernandez has also pleaded not guilty in that case.
Today was the second day in the trial for the Lloyd case.