On Tuesday, limited snippets of an affidavit filed in a Florida court emerged, via the Associated Press. And while the information published by the AP was accurate, it was hardly complete.
Albert Breer of NFL Network has passed along the entire affidavit, and it paints a much more comprehensive picture of what Carlos Ortiz said, and when and where he said it.
Basically, Ortiz said everything he knows.
As of Tuesday, June 25, Ortiz was on probation. He showed up that day for a previously-scheduled meeting with his probation officer. When Ortiz got there, he learned that there was another purpose for that day’s meeting.
Investigators provided Ortiz with the so-called Miranda warnings (“you have the right to remain silent . . .”), and Ortiz nevertheless agreed to speak. Both the video and audio were recorded.
Ortiz said that he and Wallace arrived at Hernandez’s home in North Attleboro just after midnight on June 17, 2013. Hernandez and Shayanna Jenkins weren’t home; a babysitter let Wallace and Ortiz into the home.
Ortiz saw “a small and large handgun” in the home, and when Hernandez returned with Jenkins, Ortiz saw Hernandez “carrying a handgun.”
The three men — Hernandez, Ortiz, and Wallace — left the home at 1:09 a.m., stopping once for gas and then picking up Odin Lloyd and traveling back to North Attleboro.
Ortiz told police that, on the drive back, “he overheard Mr. Hernandez state directly to Mr. Lloyd that he was ‘chilling’ with people that [Hernandez] had problems with.” Ortiz said that Hernandez and Lloyd “made up by ‘shaking hands’ and added that ‘it’ was squashed.”
Ortiz then fell asleep. He woke up when the vehicle stopped, and Ortiz saw the other three men — Hernandez, Wallace, and Lloyd — get out of the car “to urinate.”
Ortiz then heard gunshots.
Hernandez and Wallace got back in to the car “without Mr. Lloyd,” and the vehicle “fled” the scene.
Because he had been asleep and stayed in the car, Ortiz didn’t know who had fired the shots, which makes Monday’s report that Wallace told Ortiz that Hernandez fired the shots now more sensible.
When the vehicle returned to Hernandez’s house, Wallace asked Ortiz to get a small gun located under the rear of the driver’s seat. Ortiz got the gun, carried it inside, and gave it to Hernandez.
Ortiz said that he then went back to sleep.
The affidavit confirms that it was Ortiz who told police about the things Hernandez said to Lloyd in the car, but Ortiz’s version as explained in the affidavit differs from the representations made in court by prosecutor Bill McCauley during Hernandez’s arraignment. For example, McCauley mentioned that Hernandez spoke about not being able to trust anyone, and that Hernandez wasn’t upset about Lloyd “chilling” with people Hernandez had issues with but that Lloyd had actually said something to them that called his trustworthiness in to question. Also, McCauley said nothing about Hernandez and Lloyd making up.
Still, if Ortiz repeats his story in court, it will be very hard to overcome the clear and complete picture it paints. While Hernandez’s lawyers surely will try to paint Ortiz as a liar, the reality is that Hernandez specifically asked Ortiz and Wallace to come to Massachusetts from Connecticut. As a practical matter, Hernandez is pretty much stuck with whatever Ortiz says happened, unless Hernandez and Wallace plan to offer an alternative explanation on the witness stand at trial.