Aaron Hernandez Case: Sam Sutter, Prosecutor in Hernandez Case, Running for Re-Election

Bristol County, Mass. District Attorney Sam Sutter announced Monday that he will seek re-election as well as take part in the murder case for former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez. 

Sutter said that he will take part in the murder prosecution of Hernandez, who is on trial for first-degree murder. 

Sutter is seeing re-election to a third term, the Associated Press reports. He said he expected to run again, and formally announced it to his political supporters in Fall River, Mass. Sutter added that he does not want to "walk away" from the case, or from other responsibilities. 

Hernandez, 24, has pleaded not guilty to the 2013 slaying of Odin Lloyd, 27. Lloyd had been dating the sister of Hernandez's fiance. 

Sutter said he and two assistants will take on the trial, which is expected to begin in 2016. 

Sutter said he has been successful in curbing gun violence, solving homicide cases and increasing conviction rates. He also said he wants to work to prevent child abuse and domestic violence, and to decrease heroin abuse. 

Hernandez, who has been held without bail at the Bristol County House of Correction and Jail since June 26, has also been charged with assault and battery. Only Hernandez was charged in the jail altercation, according to the New York Daily News. 

Hernandez lashed out at the cuffed inmate around noon on Feb. 24 in a common area at the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth, Mass. The inmate Hernandez fought was handcuffed during the altercation. 

The inmate who was attacked, Andrew Booker, was recently released from the prison.

Only one inmate is supposed to be in the area at a time, and the former NFL player was separated from the rest of the prisoners because of his celebrity status.

Thomas Hodgson, the Bristol County Sheriff, would not say who started the fight, but he said neither inmate needed medical attention, The New York Daily News reports. Three guards were nearby during the altercation, so it did not last long.

Hodgson said the housing unit has eight cells, six of which were occupied at the time of the fight. Hodgson said the inmates are not allowed to interact with one another physically, but can interact verbally.

"It's a specialized unit, the procedure is one inmate allowed out at a time, so obviously that's a concern to me and everyone here, that there was potentially a shortfall, a systematic failure in our procedures," he said. "We're going to look at, why were they out at the same time? Was it a judgement error on the part of a staff member, some emergency or something, what exactly was it?"

According to reports, the other inmate was verbally harassing Hernandez on the day of the fight.

Hernandez was out of his cell to have recreation time when the fight broke out, but Hodgson said he usually never has any contact with other inmates, even during recreation or meal times.