Aaron Hernandez sues company that records jailhouse phone calls

Former New England Patriots tight end and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez is suing thecompany that records jailhouse phone calls because someone secretly accessed conversations he had while awaiting trial in 2014.

The lawsuit, filed first in Suffolk County Superior Court and then in U.S. District Court in Boston, alleges a breach occurred in the electronic database of Securus Technologies, which allowed an unauthorized person to access the Hernandez calls, according to The Boston Globe.

Hernandez is serving a life sentence without parole for the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd. He is awaiting trial in Suffolk County Superior Court for the fatal shootings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtadooutside a Boston nightclub in 2012. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Hernandez’s lawsuit cites a Boston Herald article from last month that broke the news of the breach. In that article, Peter Van Delft, spokesman for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, confirmed to the Herald that “during a routine security check, our Sheriff’s Investigative Division discovered that Securus’ telephone database had been accessed for calls relating to detainee Hernandez. The department then initiated discussions with Securus officials about improving security,” Delft said.

Prosecutors and Hernandez’s current defense team were never informed about the security breach, the Herald reported. Hernandez is arguing that his privacy was invaded and his civil rights violated.

“Plaintiff was damaged as a result of the lack of confidentiality and security in Defendant’s electronic database,” attorneys for Hernandez wrote, according to the Herald. “Because the full extent of the security breach is as yet unknown, the amount of Defendant’s damages must be determined at trial.”