A law firm that formerly represented Aaron Hernandez does not have to give his cellphone to Suffolk prosecutors who will try him later this year in a double murder case, but the government might be able to obtain the device in the future, a judge ruled Monday.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke wrote that he was denying the government’s request to compel the Boston firm of Ropes & Gray to turn over the phone, in part because Hernandez’s attorneys have shown “good reason why the phone is still necessary for the provision of legal services to the defendant.’’

Locke said Hernandez’s current defense team of Rankin and Sultan has not been able to access the phone because Ropes & Gray has been under court order to hold onto it while the government’s motion was pending.

It is now appropriate to transfer the phone to Hernandez’s current attorneys, but the issue of how long they will need it “is not presently before the Court,’’ Locke wrote.

Lawyers for the former New England Patriot could not be reached for comment.

Jake Wark, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, wrote in an e-mail that the ruling “makes plain that prosecutors have largely met their burden for obtaining the phone, whether through a motion for third-party records or a search warrant.’’

He said the remaining question is “how much longer it will be necessary for successor [defense] counsel to receive the phone and examine its contents before the period necessary for legal advice is complete, and we expect to flesh this issue out over the days and weeks to come.’’

Hernandez, 26, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and weapons charges in the July 2012 fatal drive-by shootings of Daniel de Abreu, 28, and Safiro Furtado, 29, in Boston’s South End.

He has also pleaded not guilty to a witness intimidation charge for allegedly shooting an associate, Alexander Bradley, in the face in Florida in February 2013 because he feared Bradley would implicate him in the murders, according to court records.

Locke wrote Monday that Hernandez and Bradley communicated via phone between February 2013 and June 2013, and that Hernandez at least once acknowledged “rocking’’ Bradley, which Bradley interpreted as an admission to shooting him in Florida.

Locke also wrote that there is probable cause to suggest that data on the phone is “undoubtedly relevant’’ to the witness intimidation charge that Hernandez faces.

Hernandez got a new phone in June 2013 and delivered his other phone that contained text messages to Bradley to Ropes & Gray, Locke wrote.

A partner in the firm was representing Hernandez at the time in an investigation into the fatal shooting of Odin Lloyd, 27, of Dorchester.

Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder in that case in April 2015 and is serving a life sentence. An appeal will be heard at a later date.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.