A lawyer for Aaron Hernandez has asked a judge to erase the former NFL player's conviction in a 2013 murder.

The former New England Patriots tight end hanged himself in his prison cell last month while serving a life sentence in the killing of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd.

Hernandez's appellate lawyer told a judge during a court hearing Tuesday that a long-established legal doctrine in Massachusetts requires the court to vacate the conviction because Hernandez died before his appeal could be heard.

Attorney John Thompson said the conviction is not considered final until it is decided by a higher court.

Prosecutors have said that dismissing his murder conviction would reward Hernandez's decision to take his own life.

The defense said in a filing before Tuesday's hearing that certain documents, which include the state's death certificate and excerpts from a suicide note Hernandez wrote to his fiancée, are irrelevant to the proceedings.

The defense asked that its motion be heard at the same time the judge considers whether to erase Hernandez's conviction.