Unnecessary Roughness

By: Jose Baez, Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez - foreword

Narrated by: Ben Jeffrey, Shayna Small

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best seller: a revelatory inside story of the trial and final days of New England Patriots superstar Aaron Hernandez, by his attorney and New York Times best-selling author Jose Baez.

When renowned defense attorney Jose Baez received a request for representation from Aaron Hernandez, the disgraced Patriots tight-end was already serving a life sentence for murder. Defending him in a second, double-murder trial seemed like a lost cause - but Baez accepted the challenge, and their partnership culminated in a dramatic courtroom victory, a race to contest his first conviction, and ultimately a tragedy, when Aaron took his own life days after his acquittal.

This riveting, closely-observed account of Aaron's life and final year is the only book based on countless intimate conversations with Aaron, and told from the perspective of a true insider. Written with the support of Hernandez's fiancée, Unnecessary Roughness takes listeners inside the high-profile trial, offering a dramatic retelling of the race to obtain key evidence that would exonerate Hernandez, and later play a critical role in appealing his first conviction.

With revelations about Aaron's personal life that weren't shared at trial, and an exploration of the Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy diagnosis revealed by his autopsy, Jose Baez's Unnecessary Roughness is a startling courtroom drama and an unexpected portrait of a fallen father, fiancé, and teammate.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2018 Jose Baez (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"One of the best-known criminal-defense lawyers in America...The man who knows Aaron Hernandez's secrets." (Esquire)

Don't waste your money

No news here, lawyer Baez explains his brillance and also his "street" knowledge. This is the PG13 version of a very complicated and tragic American true story. Baez rails against the Boston police, creating a most boring book.

REST IN PEACE AARON

Thank you so much for writing this book! As a lover of football and a former football Mom(little league, middle school, high school and college) I was a little upset that my son did not get to play hardly at all in College. But now my husband and I have agreed that we were Blessed that he did not get play time. Because when he played he played hard! I applaud Mr. Biaz, his team, Shay and his family for donating Aaron's brain to science. I also believe that this illness played a part of his decision making. Unfortunately, my look on football now is politics and money! Yes I enjoy the game very much but it's sad what the love of this sport does to the players and their families. The entire football establishment should be thankful for Aaron's gift. Mr Biaz I am sure that when his daughter is old enough to read and understand this book she will be forever grateful to you. This book gives her something to be proud of her Daddy. This book was a great listen, very informative, and loving. I'm going to buy me an Aaron Hernandez Jersey and wear it during my Atlanta Falcons games
Rest In Peace Aaron and May God's Grace and Peace be with Shay, her daughter and family and friends of Aaron. Monique C Thomas

Unnecessary Roughness

This was my first audio book!! I enjoyed it very much, but it didn't reveal a lot. Loved the photos that came with it.

Just As I Expected !

Kinda already knew everything that was written in this book!

There really wasn't any new information!

Hoping DJ's book will have a little more insight on how Aaron grew up and some knew information !

Overall it was a good listen...

I really am fond of Jose Baez. The book was well written.

Terrible

This is basically 8 hours of Jose Baez bragging about himself and his lawyerly awesomeness, and trying to convince you what a swell guy Aaron Hernandez is.

It's Baez going on and on and on about how every police officer is a corrupt idiot, and every attorney not named Jose Baez is either corrupt or incompetent. So, it's about what you'd expect from a defense attorney.

Now, I understand that our justice system doesn't work without defense attorneys. And for the infinitesimally tiny number of ppl who are wrongly accused, defense attorneys are very important. But these are people who spend 99% of their working life fighting tooth and nail to ensure that those who have committed horrible crimes are free to roam around and commit more crimes. Like Casey Anthony for example.

I absolutely believe that AH murdered Odin Lloyd and the 2 Cape Verdean gentlemen. and Baez does too, despite his insistence at the high level of "friendship" he had with Hernandez. How doI know this? Simple. He faces that question head on ("Do I believe he did it?) and his answer is " I honestly don't know".
Given his obsessive need for theatrics and drama, if he really thought AH was innocent he would've been shouting it from the rooftops throughout the entire book. But that didn't happen.

He's also a very poor writer, with extremely limited range. I lost count of the number of times he claimed that something "Made his blood boil", but it was probably north of 6-8 times in the book. I guess there's no other combination of words in the English language that could be used to convey the idea that he was angry.

He also had some glaring omissions in telling the tale of Aaron Hernandez. Abuse suffered at the hands of his father? Not a word mentioned. His brother DJ and the role DJ played in his life? Not so much.

There's more, too. Basically, not one of the legal arguments he used to raise reasonable doubt support the idea that Aaron did not commit the double murders. There was no evidence to that because, in reality, it's VERY likely that he DID commit those murders.

But, I digress.

His brother DJ has a book out too, and while that one has many, many missing or under explained elements of Aaron's life, I found it to be much more credible than this piece of one sided propaganda.

At the end, after his client's suicide, Baez insinuates that he would've probably gotten the LLOYD murder overturned because he was such good friends with AAron. It would've been refreshing to hear some honesty there, something to the effect of "and I would not have stopped fighting for Aaron until that verdict was overturned OR his estate runs out of money to pay me".

i wonder how much revenue generated from this book will go to Avielle? I'm guessing not a single cent.

Brought Tears a To My Eyes

That poor kid. Did he make some mistakes, yes he did, but I truly believe he was trying his best as he knew how. The story kept my attention and was well written and narrated. Even though I knew how the story ended, I was still feeling hope for him, his wife and daughter. Shame on the rest of his family for not sticking by his side and giving up on him.

Biased

Biased view of Aaron Hernandez’ story. Comes off as a slimy defense attorney. Don’t recommend.

EFFING FANTASTIC!

BEST narrator! My whole perspective is completely changed. Wasn't a fan of Baez, but that dude is one smart man- I would want him defending me! All in all - great book! Highly recommended!

Excellent!

Intriguing from beginning to end. Great narration.
Can't stop listening but really a sad story.

Baez Is Great

I love watching Jose Baez perform in the courtroom. This guy is the best trial lawyer in the country. He is a force.