Prosecutors promise new evidence at Wallace bail hearing

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) -- A defendant whom Massachusetts prosecutors have described as the "right-hand man" of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez is scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing.

Ernest Wallace is due in Bristol Superior Court in Fall River on Thursday afternoon. He pleaded not guilty last week to a charge of being an accessory to murder after the fact in the killing of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player from Boston who was a friend of Hernandez.

Wallace was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

Prosecutors say Wallace and an associate, Carlos Ortiz, were with Hernandez when Lloyd was killed June 17 in North Attleborough, Mass., near Hernandez's home.

Last week, Wallace's attorney, David Meier, said in court that he wanted to study the minutes of grand jury proceedings that led to Wallace's indictment to prepare for a bail hearing.

The minutes were turned over to the defense, District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said. Sutter then predicted more evidence would be presented at Thursday's hearing. He said prosecutors will be "very forthcoming" about evidence against Wallace to ­ensure bail remains at $500,000.

Wallace, the only of the three defendants who has been awarded bail, had been unable to gain his freedom at that amount before the indictment, and prosecutors have said he is effectively broke, with Hernandez as his sole means of support before the shooting.

"I think it is a very safe ­assumption that during the bail hearing you will learn about matters that you're not aware of right now," Sutter said. "This is a very serious ­offense. Accessory after the fact of murder (carries) a seven-year state prison sentence. We allege that he assisted, in a material way, Aaron Hernandez after the fact of the murder of Odin Lloyd."

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons charges in the same case and is being held without bail.

PHOTOS: The Aaron Hernandez murder case