Prison official says ex-Patriots star Aaron Hernandez transferring to Boston jail Wednesday

BOSTON – Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, who has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges, is to be transferred Wednesday from one jail to another about 58 miles north in Boston to be closer to his lawyers.

Bristol County sheriff’s spokesman, Bernie Sullivan, said Tuesday that Hernandez will be moved from the Bristol County House of Correction in North Dartmouth, where he has been for more than a year, after his Fall River court appearance Wednesday afternoon.

Sullivan said Hernandez will either move to the Suffolk County Jail, a maximum security facility on the north side of Boston, or the county jail on the south side, the South Bay House of Correction. South Bay houses both maximum- and minimum-security inmates.

A judge ruled Monday that Hernandez can move to a jail closer to his Boston-based lawyers, but said he would likely be moved back to Bristol County when he goes on trial on the first of three murder charges, possibly in October.

The court hearing Wednesday is expected to focus on Hernandez’s request for a court subpoena to compel the Patriots to turn over his medical, psychological and other team records.

Defence attorneys argue the records are potentially relevant to Hernandez’s state of mind prior to the 2013 slaying of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player found dead in an industrial park near Hernandez’s North Attleborough home.

In a related development, a state Superior Court judge has approved placing a $5 million lien on Hernandez’s real estate holdings on behalf of the families of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. The two men were killed in a 2012 drive-by shooting in Boston. Hernandez is charged in their slayings. The families are each seeking $6 million in damages from Hernandez in a civil wrongful death lawsuit.

Lloyd’s family, which has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit, was previously granted a $5 million lien against Hernandez’s home. Town records show the home is assessed at $1.27 million.