Shayanna Jenkins’ Trash Bag Testimony: Will Aaron Hernandez’s Jury Believe Her Explanation?
Aaron Hernandez’s fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, will take the stand again on Monday, continuing her direct testimony in the Odin Lloyd murder case. The most anticipated part of Jenkins’ testimony will be about a box she placed in a trash bag and removed from Hernandez’s home the day after Lloyd’s murder.
What will Jenkins tell prosecutors was in the box, and will jurors believe her testimony?
Shayanna Jenkins on stand pic.twitter.com/zLsW8rNPmc
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielFOX25) March 27, 2015
According to WPRI, a video shown to jurors earlier in the trial (below) shows Shayanna carrying a black garbage bag out of the couple’s North Attleboro, Massachusetts home. The prosecution believes that the bag contained a box that held the murder weapon, a.45 Glock, and that Jenkins disposed of the bag at Hernandez’s request.
One of the three housekeepers who testified in the trial admitted to seeing Shayanna put the large bag in the trunk of her sister Shaneah’s car. Where she dumped the trash bag is still unknown.
Prior to the jury entering the courtroom on Friday, Shayanna told prosecutors at a hearing Hernandez asked her to “conceal a box” and take it out of their home. When the trial resumes on Monday, the prosecution will ask her a series of questions about the box, this time in front of the jurors.
According to Sports Illustrated’s legal analyst, Michael McCann, Jenkins’ explanation could vary and what she says may have a big impact on the outcome of the trial. The worst case scenario for Aaron Hernandez, a former tight tend for the New England Patriots, would be if his fiancée states that she removed the box from the home because it contained the gun that was used to kill Odin Lloyd.
Although her testimony would be challenged by Aaron’s defense team, it would still be the most damaging in this case — especially because the prosecution still does not have any hard evidence, including the murder weapon or the shoes that Hernandez supposedly wore on the night of the murder.
Other explanations outlined by McCann include the possibility that Jenkins could say she never looked in the box, or that she removed the box from their home because it “contained illegal drugs.”
“From the standpoint of the defense, the ideal response by Jenkins would be that the box contained illegal drugs… with police searching around the house, it would have made sense to discard illegal drugs. If the box in fact contained drugs rather than weapons, the box would become an inconsequential piece of evidence—and Jenkins’s testimony about the box would serve as a significant victory for Hernandez and his attorneys.”
Mass Live reports that the prosecution could rest as early as the end of the week, but trial watchers can expect the most telling testimony to come on Monday when Shayanna Jenkins takes to the stand for the second day.
Watch Jenkins’ testimony live streaming online when the Aaron Hernandez trial begins its 36th day on Monday, March 30.
[Image: Cheryl P]
