The judge presiding over the murder trial of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez has allowed for immunity for Hernandez's fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, according to court documents released Tuesday.
The decision means that Jenkins could be compelled to testify against Hernandez or face jail. No further details are available, as the immunity request by prosecutors is "filed under seal."
Lawyers for Hernandez had asked last month that prosecutors disclose any inducements offered to Jenkins to get her to testify in his murder trial.
Jenkins, the mother of Hernandez's daughter, has been in court throughout the trial, sitting behind Hernandez in a sign of apparent support.
She had previously pleaded not guilty to perjury for allegedly lying to the grand jury investigating Lloyd's killing. Prosecutors said Jenkins lied dozens of times, including when she said she couldn't remember where she disposed of a box from the basement that Hernandez supposedly told her to get rid of.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to killing semiprofessional football player Odin Lloyd, whose bullet-riddled body was found in an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez's North Attleborough home in June of 2013.
His trial is expected to resume Wednesday after a two-day snowstorm delay.
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Hernandez has also pleaded not guilty in the 2012 fatal shootings of two men after a chance encounter at a Boston nightclub.
