Douglas K. Sheff, a lawyer representing Lloyd’s family, said he wouldn’t take issue with describing Hernandez’s life as chaotic, citing published reports that detailed brushes with the law dating back to his college years.

“We’ve all heard stories,” Sheff said. “Everything comes down to really understanding brain injury, really understanding when it’s there. … And this is a matter of great study and evaluation by teams of experts that we use in our cases.”