Hernandez Lawyers Due in Court in Double Slaying Case

Prosecutors and lawyers for former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez are expected in court for a status conference in his Boston double homicide case.

The Bristol native is charged in the 2012 killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Prosecutors said Hernandez shot the two men during the early hours of July 16, 2012 after a chance encounter at a Boston nightclub when one of them accidentally spilled a drink on him.

A status hearing is scheduled in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday, where lawyers are expected to discuss the sharing of evidence. Hernandez is not expected to attend the hearing. His trial is scheduled in May.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in those killings and in the 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player in Massachusetts.

Lloyd’s body was found near Hernandez's North Attleboro, Massachusetts home.

That trial is scheduled for January in Fall River.