Shayanna Jenkins, the fiancée of Aaron Hernandez, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to one count of perjury in connection to the Odin Lloyd murder investigation. Among allegations, the Commonwealth claimed Jenkins disposed of evidence - a box purportedly containing the weapon used to kill Lloyd - and then lied to investigators about its whereabouts, NBC News and CNN report.
The prosecution accused Jenkins of:
-Lying to prosecutors about conversations she had with Hernandez, including one about another shooting incident and one in which Hernandez asked her to "get rid of" a box.
-Having "select amnesia" by saying she didn't remember which dumpster she disposed of the box, which was believed to contain the firearm used to murder Lloyd.
-Making up a story that Lloyd was a drug dealer.
Court documents released in August indicate investigators believe Jenkins disposed of a box containing the murder weapon. Although Jenkins admitted she put a box in a dumpster, she said she couldn't remember the location of the dumpster - a claim Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Bomberg doesn't believe.
"She told her sister that she was going to the bank, she told her uncle ... she was going to the store, she told the grand jurors that she was going to get baby formula," said Bomberg, via CNN.
Jenkins' attorney, Janice Bassil, refuted the prosecutions' accusations and called the indictment "overreaching." Bassil contended Jenkins' has been "fully cooperative other than insisting on her Fifth Amendment rights," according to CNN.
Bassil also reminded the court that Jenkins "received immunity on all of these things they are accusing her of" and never once to the grand jury. The lawyer went on to describe the relationship between Hernandez as "don't ask, don't tell," implying Jenkins wasn't privy to everything Hernandez did.
"She could spend her life tracking him down and asking where he was every single minute, or she could choose to say what you do on your own time is your own time," said Bassil. "If you didn't do this, you didn't do this. I don't need to know any more detail."
Jenkins was released on her own recognizance pending trial. She's scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 6.
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