Ernest Wallace, charged as an accessory after the fact in the murder of Odin Lloyd, was due to be in court Monday for a pre-trial hearing. With Aaron Hernandez’s probable cause hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Wallace’s hearing was postponed by the agreement of the lawyers.
According to the North Attleboro Sun Chronicle, the Wallace hearing has been rescheduled for Friday.
It’s impossible not to wonder whether there’s a connection between the timing of the two hearings. It could be that prosecutors wanted to keep whatever cards they plan to play against Wallace close to the vest for the purposes of the upcoming hearing involving Hernandez.
Or perhaps the prosecution wants to give Wallace one more chance to accept whatever deal may be on the table to have his charges reduced in exchange for cooperating with the authorities. Though it appears Carlos Ortiz has flipped on Hernandez, Ortiz’s testimony may not be as strong as Wallace’s -- especially since Ortiz told police he was sleeping in the car when Hernandez, Wallace, and Odin Lloyd got out of the car, shots were fired, and only Hernandez and Wallace got back in.