Robert Kraft testifies Aaron Hernandez told him he was innocent

Patriots owner Robert Kraft testifies in court that Aaron Hernandez told him he was innocent

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft took the stand Tuesday to testify in former Patriots’ tight end Aaron Hernandez’s trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez was arrested for the murder of Lloyd, his former friend, in 2013.

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In Kraft’s testimony, he informed the court that Hernandez told him he was innocent of the murder. Per ESPN, this is exactly what Kraft said:

“I understood there was an incident that had transpired, and I wanted to know whether he was involved, and if he was — any player that comes into our system, I consider part of our extended family, and I wanted to get him help,” Kraft said.

“What did he say?” prosecutor William McCauley asked.

“He said he was not involved,” Kraft replied. “That he was innocent and that he hoped that the time of the murder incident came out because he said he was in a club.”

ESPN’s report alleged that Kraft seemed “uncomfortable” on the stand, even when asked simple questions such as where he works.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is expected to testify later in the week.

Here are some more impressions and takeaways of Kraft’s testimony from Twitter:

Here’s the thing: how much can Kraft really tell them about Hernandez? Owners are involved with their teams at varying degrees, but usually they don’t know all the players extremely well (outside of stars like Tom Brady). Can Kraft really be expected to be a character witness for Hernandez? It’s like asking Bill Gates to testify for some lower-level Microsoft employee. How well is he really going to know them?

In another line of questioning, Kraft couldn’t remember where Hernandez went to college, or how long his contract was. He’s clearly not closely involved with the players on that level, and “special greeting” or not, he may not be the best person to tell us about Hernandez’s character.

Interestingly, back in 2013 after Hernandez was arrested, Kraft said that the team had been “duped” by the tight end, and added that he only knew “what goes on inside this building.”

It’s interesting to hear from Kraft in this case, but it should have little or no bearing on whether or not Hernandez is convicted.

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