sakura

BOSTON – Prosecutors have asked a judge to allow testimony during Aaron Hernandezs upcoming murder trial from a friend who says the former New England Patriots star owned a gun similar to the one used to kill semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd in 2013. Ryan Klesko Jersey .In a court filing Tuesday, the Bristol County district attorneys office says Hernandez told longtime friend Robert Paradis about six weeks before Lloyds death that he owned a .45-calibre pistol. Authorities say Lloyd was shot with the same type of weapon, which they say has never been recovered because Hernandez asked his fiancee to dispose of it and other evidence of the crime.Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder in the June 2013 slaying of Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandezs fiancee. Jury selection begins Jan. 9. Hernandez also has pleaded not guilty to murder in the shooting deaths of two other men in Boston in 2012 following an encounter at a nightclub. He faces trial in that case at a later date.In their filing, prosecutors say Hernandez flew Paradis, a former high school teammate in Bristol, Connecticut, out to Los Angeles in April 2013 and mentioned he owned the gun. Later, after heading back to Boston, Hernandez called Paradis to check that the gun was still where he left it in a dresser wrapped in a black T-shirt, prosecutors said. Paradise confirmed a gun was there but did not unwrap it to determine its make or model.The defendants brag that he had a .45 is clearly evidence from which the jury could find, close in time to the murder, that Hernandez possessed a weapon matching the identical large calibre handgun used in the murder of Odin Lloyd, prosecutors wrote in their motion. It is not a simple matter to obtain an illegal handgun. That the defendant had done so is strong evidence of his ability to have obtained the means to commit the murder of Odin Lloyd.Prosecutors also asked the judge to bar the defence from calling an expert witness who can describe the effects of the drug PCP on the brain.Prosecutors say Hernandezs co-defendants Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz were observed smoking PCP, a hallucinogenic drug also called angel dust, more than 27 hours before the slaying. But they argue there is no evidence the drug was consumed close enough in time to be relevant in the case or that the defendants were acting erratically on the night Lloyd was killed.Hernandezs lawyers plan to call Dr. David Greenblatt to testify regarding the effects of PCP and/or Marijuana on the human brain and human behaviour, according to the prosecutions motion. Wallace and Ortiz have both pleaded not guilty to murder and will be tried separately.And in a third filing this week, prosecutors sought permission to take jurors on a bus tour of places relevant in the case, including Hernandezs North Attleboro home and the nearby industrial park where Lloyds bullet-riddled body was found.Hernandezs lawyers did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment. Phil Nevin Jersey . I wondered how NHL coaches would feel about a playoff schedule that allowed them to open a best-of-seven series on the road, which many claim to favour, yet still gave them the precious home-ice edge for a seventh game. San Diego Padres Pro Shop . Some members of the U.S. Congress arent so sure. They say Russia isnt doing enough to assure that athletes will be protected at the Feb. 7-23 games, happening not far from an Islamic insurgency that Russias huge security apparatus has struggled for two decades to quell. Russia may run greater risks in towns outside the tightly controlled Olympic zone. Suicide bombs last month a few hundred kilometres (miles) away have increased concerns, and an Islamic warlord has urged his followers to attack the Sochi Olympics, Russian President Vladimir Putins pet project.CHICAGO – Matt Forte had nowhere to go for much of the night. He was surrounded every time he touched the ball for the Chicago Bears.While Forte struggled for the second straight week, DeMarco Murray found plenty of room to run for the Dallas Cowboys.Forte managed just 26 yards on 13 carries in Chicagos 41-28 loss on Thursday. He also had eight receptions for 74 yards, but most of those gains occurred with the game out of hand in the final quarter.Lack of execution, Forte said when asked about the stymied running game. You know, it would be a missed block here, or blocking the wrong person there. Its many things.Forte matched a career low with five carries for 6 yards in last Thursdays 34-17 at Detroit. The Bears (5-8) have rushed for just 140 yards in their last three games.We tried to run the football, Chicago coach Marc Trestman said. They certainly were making every attempt to stop the run. There were some run blitzes and some edge blitzes, just to try to knock us off. We missed a couple of blocks along the way, but it was evident.While Forte had few noticeable running lanes, Murray scampered through huge holes on his way to a season-high 179 yards on 32 carries. The dynamic running back also had a team-high nine receptions for 49 yards.Murray put Dallas in front with a 1-yard TD run on fourth-and-goal with 10:50 left in the second quarter. He had 114 yards rushing in the second half alone.I pride myself on starting fast and finishing strong, said Murray, who leads the NFL with 1,606 yards on the ground.Joseph Randle added a 17-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the Cowboys (9-4), who scored 28 straight points to open a 35-7 lead heading into the final period. Tony Romo was 21 for 26 for 205 yards and three touchdowns.Jay Cutler was 32 of 46 for 341 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago, which has lost five of seven. Martellus Bennett had a career-high 12 receptions for 84 yards and a TD, and Alshon Jefferyy finished with six grabs for 95 yards and a score. Cito Gaston Jersey. Brandon Marshalls juggling 42-yard reception set up Bennetts 12-yard score in the second quarter. But Marshall departed with injured ribs after he took a knee to his right side from Barry Church following a big fourth-down reception on the same drive.Marshall left Soldier Field in an ambulance, but a post to his Twitter account thanked fans for their prayers and said he was good.Its a big loss, said Forte, who had a 1-yard TD run and a 2-point conversion in the fourth. Guys got to step up in his place and play, but you know you cant replace a guy like Brandon like that. He was having a good game, too.The Bears got the ball to begin the second half, but Forte lost a fumble and Romo turned the mistake into a 24-yard touchdown pass to Cole Beasley. He then passed to a wide-open Gavin Escobar for a 6-yard score with 8:02 left in the third, increasing Dallas lead to 28-7.The Cowboys stopped a three-game slide against the Bears, including losses in each of the previous two seasons. They also played a night game at Soldier Field last December, with Forte helping the Bears to a 45-28 victory on a brutally cold Monday.Dallas was coming off a 33-10 loss to Philadelphia on Thanksgiving, and it faces the division-leading Eagles again next Sunday in Philadelphia.Its definitely important to come back and get a W, especially after the loss we had last week, said Beasley, who also had a 13-yard touchdown reception late in the first half. Thats the main thing we wanted to do tonight, except we wanted to do it in a little better fashion. We didnt finish as strong as we wanted to.NOTES: The Bears also lost S Chris Conte to a back injury in the third quarter. … Jay Feely, who signed with Chicago on Wednesday, handled the kicking duties after Robbie Gould was sidelined by a right quadriceps injury.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ‚ ‚ ‚