FILE - In this March 15, 2017, file photo, Defendant Aaron Hernandez listens during his double murder trial in Suffolk Superior Court, in Boston. A judge is set to hear arguments in a push by lawyers... (Associated Press) 
 
 FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez's conviction in a 2013 murder can be erased because he died before his appeal was heard, a judge ruled Tuesday. 
 
 Judge E. Susan Garsh said case law in Massachusetts has long established that defendants who have not had the merits of their appeals decided before they die have the right to have their convictions vacated. She said she was compelled to follow it. 
 
 The former New England Patriots tight end hanged himself in his cell in a maximum-security prison last month while serving a life sentence on a first-degree murder conviction in the death of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd. He died five days after being acquitted in a separate double slaying in 2012. 
 
 Lawyers for Hernandez had argued that the state's highest court had applied the legal doctrine "without exception," even in cases of suicide. They said his conviction wasn't considered final because the automatic appeal he was entitled to had not been heard at the time of his death. 
 
 Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg had argued that Hernandez "should not be able to accomplish in death what he could not accomplish in life." 
 
 But Garsh rejected the argument that Hernandez had forfeited his right to appeal by taking his own life, saying no one can ever know for sure why Hernandez killed himself. 
 
 Hernandez's appellate attorney, John Thompson, told reporters after the hearing that he believes it's still uncertain as to whether Hernandez took his own life. 
 
 Thompson says he has recent correspondence from Hernandez in which he was interested in pursuing an appeal of his conviction. Thompson also said because Hernandez died in prison, it will be difficult to definitively determine how he died. 
 
 Hernandez's lead attorney in his recent double murder trial, Jose Baez, has pledged to do an independent investigation into his death. 
 
 State police said in an investigative report that Hernandez was found naked on April 19 and hanging from a bed sheet tied around the window bars of his cell. Correction officers found that cardboard had been shoved into the tracks of Hernandez's cell door to prevent the door from opening. Hernandez also had put shampoo on the floor to make it slippery, the report states. 
 
 An autopsy performed by the state medical examiner's office determined the cause of Hernandez's death was asphyxia by hanging and the manner of death was suicide. 
 
 Hernandez, who grew up in Bristol, Connecticut, and played football at the University of Florida, was considered an up-and-coming star during his three seasons with the Patriots. He was cut from the team hours after his arrest in the killing of Lloyd. ||||| Fall River, Massachusetts (CNN) Aaron Hernandez died a convicted murderer, but in the eyes of the law, his conviction has been erased. 
 
 On Tuesday, a Massachusetts judge vacated Hernandez's murder conviction after the former NFL star's suicide. Minutes later, the Bristol County district attorney said prosecutors will appeal the judge's decision. 
 
 Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the June 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd . Hernandez hanged himself in his prison cell April 19, just days after his acquittal on double-murder charges in a separate case. 
 
 Massachusetts courts have generally recognized a legal rule called "abatement ab initio," or abatement, in which convictions are thrown out if a defendant dies before his or her appeal is heard. 
 
 The idea of abatement is to ensure the right to appeal for defendants , Suffolk University law professor Rosanna Cavallaro told CNN. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Odin Lloyd's mother speaks out on son's death Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Odin Lloyd's mother speaks out on son's death 01:16 
 
 After the judge's ruling, Lloyd's mother spoke to reporters. 
 
 "I know everyone is looking for me to be angry, but I'm not," Ursula Ward said. "I know God is fighting this battle for me. He also said be still, and know that I am God. And I am obeying him." 
 
 Ward said the judge's decision doesn't change her mind that Hernandez killed her son. 
 
 "In our book, he's guilty, and he's going to always be guilty," she said, holding back tears. "But I know one day, I'm going to see my son. And that's the victory that I have (that) I'm going to take with me." 
 
 The arguments on both sides 
 
 Hernandez attorney John Thompson said the manner of death should not matter -- when a person dies while his conviction is under direct appeal, the conviction should be vacated. 
 
 But prosecutors argued that abating Hernandez's conviction would "reward the defendant's conscious, deliberate and voluntary act" of killing himself and that the abatement rule has no solid historical or legal basis. 
 
 "A defendant, who can cut off his own criminal appeal by suicide and stall civil litigation by a stay of proceedings ... has the reins of the entire justice system in his own hands," prosecutors wrote. 
 
 In court filings last week, they produced two pieces of evidence they said bolstered their argument. 
 
 First, one fellow inmate told authorities that Hernandez had mentioned he heard a rumor about the abatement rule, according to the court documents. 
 
 Second, Hernandez's suicide note for his fiancée said "YOU'RE RICH," underlined twice. The issue is relevant because Lloyd's mother has brought a wrongful death suit against Hernandez's estate. And such lawsuits often rely on a criminal conviction as their basis of facts. 
 
 Ultimately, Judge Susan Garsh said the court cannot say for certain why Hernandez committed suicide. She described it as a "tragic act that had complex and myriad motives." 
 
 After the judge's decision an attorney for Lloyd's mother said the civil wrongful death case will proceed. 
 
 "The abatement issue really shouldn't affect our case," attorney Doug Sheff said. 
 
 A history of abatements 
 
 Abatement has generally been recognized in Massachusetts even in high-profile cases of suicide. 
 
 John Salvi was convicted of murder in 1996 for opening fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Brookline, but his conviction was vacated when he committed suicide in prison before his appeal was heard. 
 
 And the death of John J. Geoghan, a priest at the center of the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal, also led to the abatement of his conviction 
 
 But Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn criticized the "antiquated" practice of abatement, especially when an inmate commits suicide while his conviction is under appeal. 
 
 "By his suicide, the defendant waives his right to appeal," Quinn said Tuesday. 
 
 "To allow an archaic rule to erase a jury's verdict flies in the face of common sense and basic fairness." 
 
 Quinn said he will appeal the erasing of Hernandez's conviction. 
 
 "He should not be able to accomplish in death what he could not have accomplished in life."
– He'll enter the history books as a former NFL star and a one-time inmate but, ultimately, not a convicted murderer. Judge E. Susan Garsh on Tuesday agreed to erase Aaron Hernandez's conviction in a 2013 murder because he died before his appeal was heard. Garsh said she was compelled to follow Massachusetts case law, which has long established that defendants who have not had the merits of their appeals decided before they die have the right to have their convictions vacated, reports the AP. Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg had argued Hernandez "should not be able to accomplish in death what he could not accomplish in life." Lawyers for Hernandez countered that the state's highest court had applied the legal doctrine "without exception," even in cases—like Hernandez's—of suicide. Garsh rejected the argument that Hernandez had forfeited his right to appeal by taking his own life on April 19, saying no one can ever know for sure why Hernandez killed himself. Prosecutors plan to appeal Garsh's decision, reports CNN, which notes they based their original argument on two pieces of evidence: an inmate's testimony that Hernandez had heard a "rumor" about the legal principle, and the suicide note left for his fiancee. "YOU'RE RICH," he wrote to Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez. CNN explains the mother of Odin Lloyd, the man Hernandez was originally convicted of murdering, hit Hernandez's estate with a wrongful death lawsuit. The absence of a criminal conviction could adversely affect her civil case.