BOSTON -- Aaron Hernandez's lawyer says the former NFL player's brain showed severe signs of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
In a news conference at his offices, attorney Jose Baez said testing showed that Hernandez had Stage 3 CTE, with Stage 4 being the highest.
Baez also said a federal lawsuit against the NFL and the New England Patriots on behalf of Hernandez's daughter was filed Thursday afternoon.
CTE can be caused by repeated head trauma and leads to symptoms like violent mood swings, depression and other cognitive difficulties. Hernandez killed himself in April in the jail cell where he was serving a life sentence for a 2013 murder.