Aaron Hernandez's double-murder trial postponed

The double-murder trial of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been postponed.

Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke granted a motion by defense counsel and prosecutors for the move, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney said Thursday in a news release.

The case will return to court for a status hearing on Jan. 19, the previously scheduled trial date.

Locke wrote, according to the Boston Globe, that both sides will appear beforeSupreme Judicial Court Judge Margot Botsford on Jan. 5 regarding the admissability of a device, which has not been identified publicly. That ruling could be appealed, which could have led to a delay in the trial anyway.

Hernandez is to be tried for the 2012 homicides of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado and the non-fatal shooting of a witness, Alexander S. Bradley, described as a friend of Hernandez, in July 2013.

The former New England Patriots tight end has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. He's accused of killing the men after an encounter in a nightclub in Boston's South End.

Hernandez is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole after being convicted earlier this year for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.