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| FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2013, file photo, former New England Patriots NFL football player Aaron Hernandez attends a pretrial court hearing in Fall River, Mass. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to killing Odin Lloyd, 27, a semi-professional football player from Boston who was dating the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend. Police wrote in a June 28, 2013 search warrant application that there was probable cause to believe that Hernandez was driving a vehicle used in a separate double slaying of Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu and Safiro Teixeira Furtado, in Boston, and "may have been the shooter." |
Former New England
Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez can't watch football on TV for his
own safety, the sheriff in charge of the prison said on Saturday.
"When
somebody with any kind of fame comes in, there are already wise guys
who try to improve their own stature by hurting him," Bristol County
Sheriff Thomas Hodgson told The Associated Press. "We don't want to have
any problems."
Hernandez has been held
without bail at the Bristol County House of Correction in North
Dartmouth, Mass., since he was charged in June with the murder of Odin
Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player. The Patriots released him
on the day he was arrested.
Hodgson said this
week that Hernandez won't be able to watch his former teammates play in
the AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos because he isn't
allowed to watch TV at all. The sheriff said on Saturday that Hernandez
is kept separated from the other inmates under "special management"
because of his fame.
"My job is care and
custody. First and foremost, we have to be concerned about the safety of
the inmate and the officers," Hodgson said. "I can't put this guy in a
vulnerable situation where there are people who would like to prove
they're more important" by hurting Hernandez.
Hodgson
said the decision to keep Hernandez separate was made when the former
NFL star first arrived at the prison. He is only allowed outside of his
cell three hours a day, and never at the same time as other inmates.
"I've spoken to him about it, and he understands it," Hodgson said. "I'm not going to tell you that he enjoys it all the time."
Hernandez
is different from the other inmates in special management because he is
still awaiting trial. Most of the others in the separate unit were in
the general population before losing privileges due to bad behavior.
"Of
course, we recognize that everyone's innocent until proven guilty,"
Hodgson said. "But also a judge doesn't feel like you're able to be in
the community on bail. I don't make those decisions to send people to
our institution, but when they get there, I have a responsibility to
make sure they're safe, they're fed."
Unlike
those who have lost their privileges, Hernandez is allowed access to the
prison commissary, Hodgson said. But it wouldn't be safe to have a TV
in the unit.
"He does get some privileges that
the others don't because he is a pretrial detainee," Hodgson said.
"There are times when he's asked for a TV. But we can't have a
television in the unit he's housed in. That would be looked upon by the
other individuals in the unit as a special privilege and create
animosity."
Hodgson said the decision to separate Hernandez from the general population is reassessed periodically,
"He knows that I'm looking out for his welfare," the sheriff said. "It's not the ideal situation. It's jail.
"It's a delicate situation."
