Tossing ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez’s murder conviction seen as reward

Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder in Lloyd’s 2013 killing. The former New England Patriots tight end died of an apparent suicide in prison last month, five days after being acquitted in a separate double slaying in 2012.

Last week, his lawyers asked that his murder conviction be vacated under case law in Massachusetts that has held that when a defendant dies before an appeal is decided, the conviction is vacated. Hernandez’s appeal hadn’t been heard yet when he hanged himself.