Hernandez on track for May murder trial

BOSTON (AP) — Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez remains on track for a May trial on two murder charges.

His lawyers and prosecutors agreed Tuesday to another pre-trial hearing on Nov. 25 during a brief court appearance in Suffolk Superior Court.

The lawyers largely talked privately with Judge Jeffrey Locke at the bench, out of hearing range from the courtroom audience.

Hernandez, who did not attend the hearing, is charged in the 2012 killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

Prosecutors say Hernandez shot the two men after one of them accidentally spilled a drink on him in a Boston nightclub.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in those killings and in the 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player whose body was found in an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez’s North Attleborough home.

Lloyd had been dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. That trial is scheduled for January in Fall River.

In the Boston case, prosecutors say Hernandez and a friend followed the two men in their car after the chance encounter at the nightclub. They said Hernandez fired at least five shots into the car while it was stopped at a red light, killing the two men and injuring a third.

The men were killed about six weeks before Hernandez signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Patriots. He was not indicted until May 2014.

Prosecutors said that in the months leading up to the shooting, Hernandez had become increasingly convinced that people had been disrespecting him when he went to nightclubs.

Hernandez was released by the Patriots after he was charged in Lloyd’s June 2013 killing.

Cowboys release Sam from practice squad

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys released defensive end Michael Sam from the practice squad on Tuesday, another setback as the NFL’s first openly gay player tries to make an active roster during the regular season for the first time.

Sam spent seven weeks with the Cowboys after signing to their practice squad on Sept. 3, four days after he was among the final cuts by the St. Louis Rams at the end of the preseason.

The Rams drafted the former SEC defensive player of the year from Missouri late in the seventh round in May. He was pick No. 249 out of 256. Sam had three sacks in the preseason with St. Louis playing mostly against second- and third-stringers.

The Cowboys are among the league’s worst in sacks but have been getting solid production with a rotation in the front four of a defense exceeding expectations.

The Cowboys (6-1), off to their best start since they were 12-1 in 2007, are playing their second straight NFC East opponent at home, with Washington (2-5) visiting Monday night.

While releasing Sam, the Cowboys added linebacker Troy Davis of Central Florida and defensive tackle Ken Bishop of Northern Illinois to their practice squad.

No penalties for Ryan Newman

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR decided Tuesday not to penalize Ryan Newman after his car failed inspection following the race at Talladega.

The Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was found to be too low in the rear on both sides of the car after Sunday’s race. NASCAR brought it back to North Carolina for a further inspection and concluded that damage during the race was to blame.