Closing arguments in Aaron Hernandez trial to be made Tuesday

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- The judge in the murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez says closing arguments will be presented Tuesday.

Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh told jurors Monday that they have heard all the evidence they will hear in the case and that they should be back at court at 9 a.m. Tuesday. After closing arguments from both sides, the 15 jurors will be instructed in the law and then begin deliberations. Three jurors will be randomly selected as alternates.

Eighteen jurors began the trial in January, but three were dismissed, including one who is accused of misrepresenting her answers during screening in a bid to get onto the jury.

The defense called just three witnesses and rested its case in a single day.

The defense's first witness was Dr. David Greenblatt, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, who testified about the effects of PCP. Hernandez's two co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, were seen smoking PCP a few days before the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd. Both men have pleaded not guilty and will be tried later.

Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg went after Greenblatt's testimony, showing surveillance video of Ortiz, Wallace and Hernandez from Hernandez's home before and immediately after the killing. In the videos, the men do not appear to be acting strangely.

"This is essentially three minutes after the murder -- you'd expect to see something lingering of PCP psychosis or intoxication," Bomberg said, asking if Greenblatt could detect such behavior.

"You just can't tell," Greenblatt replied.

After the defense rested, prosecutors called a rebuttal witness to testify about PCP. That witness, Dr. Martin Brecher, a psychiatrist, said it was wrong to associate PCP and violence. Brecher wrote a paper reviewing cases of PCP over decades.

After the prosecutor finished questioning Brecher, the judge called for a recess and sent the jury out of the room.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in the killing of Lloyd, who was shot six times at an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez's home in North Attleborough. Lloyd was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiance. At the time of the killing, Hernandez had a $40 million contract with the Patriots.

Testimony by two other witnesses related to DNA on a shell casing found inside a silver Nissan Altima that Hernandez rented, which prosecutors say he used to drive Lloyd to his death. When police found the shell casing in a trash bin at a rental car agency, it was stuck to chewed blue bubble gum that also was found in the Nissan. In testing, Hernandez's DNA was found on the shell casing. The defense has argued it got there from the bubble gum.

While they spent less than a day putting on a defense, Hernandez's lawyers vigorously cross-examined many of the prosecution's 132 witnesses, some for hours, during the trial, which has lasted more than two months. They questioned why Hernandez would put his life and career on the line to kill a man they said was a friend. They also attacked what they painted as sloppy police work.

Prosecutors have not explained to jurors a possible motive for the killing, had no witnesses to the shooting and never found the murder weapon. But they presented hundreds of pieces of evidence, including surveillance videos from inside Hernandez's home that showed him holding a black object that appeared to be a gun less than 10 minutes after Lloyd's death. A marijuana joint found near Lloyd's body had DNA from both men on it.

Cellphone records also showed the men communicating with Lloyd that night. Surveillance video along the way showed Hernandez driving the Nissan shortly before Lloyd's sister saw him get into a silver car, a moment captured on a neighbor's security camera. Soon after, a tollbooth camera caught the Nissan leaving Boston, while Lloyd's phone pinged several cell towers before stopping in North Attleborough for good.