SOMERVILLE, N.J. -- In a typical maneuver when the
prosecution rests, the defense for Jayson Williams has asked the
trial judge to acquit the former NBA star of all charges.
Trial judges often reject the dismissal motion instantly, and
the defense starts its case.
However, state Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman set aside
two days to hear arguments on Williams' request, starting Monday.
The jury that has sat since Feb. 10 was excused until Wednesday.
In a 26-page brief filed an hour after the prosecution rested on
Wednesday, the defense said acquittal was warranted because the
prosecution "failed to offer sufficient evidence to sustain its
burden."
Williams, 36, is charged with aggravated manslaughter and seven
other counts. He is accused of recklessly handling a shotgun in his
bedroom in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2002, after drinking with
friends following a Harlem Globetrotters game.
It fired and killed van driver Costas "Gus" Christofi.
Williams then altered evidence and persuaded other houseguests to
lie that they were downstairs when Christofi shot himself,
prosecutors charged.
In questioning many of the prosecution's 36 witnesses, the
defense suggested that the shooting was an accident, that the
shotgun may have malfunctioned, and that a sloppy and incomplete
investigation was done by the New Jersey State Police and Hunterdon
County prosecutor's office.
Of the 36 witnesses, three testified that they saw the gun fire
after Williams snapped it shut while holding it in one hand.
Two of them said they heard Williams speak to Christofi just
before that, undercutting the defense argument that Williams was
unaware that Christofi, 55, was in the room. However, those two
witnesses had differing recollections of what Williams said. One
said Williams uttered a single epithet, while the other said
Williams uttered an expletive-laden phrase.
The most serious charge Williams faces is aggravated
manslaughter, which the defense brief argued requires prosecutors
to show that Williams' conduct had a probability, not just a
possibility, of causing death.
Williams also faces a reckless manslaughter charge, which the
defense brief said required proof that he consciously disregarded a
substantial risk that his actions would result in death.
He is also charged with tampering with witnesses and evidence.
Five witnesses said Williams wiped the shotgun down after the
shooting, and four said they saw him put it in the dying man's
hands. Testimony also showed that Williams then stripped, gave his
clothes to a friend to dispose of, and ran naked into his indoor
pool.
The eight charges carry up to 55 years in prison. The least of
the charges carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison, but
would likely result in probation.
Christofi had driven four Globetrotters from their game in
Bethlehem, Pa., to a restaurant near the Williams estate for dinner
with Williams and most of the group. They then went to the mansion
in Alexandria Township.
Williams retired as center of the New Jersey Nets in 2000 after
a decade in the NBA, unable to overcome a broken leg suffered a
year earlier in a collision with a teammate. He was suspended from
his job as an NBA analyst for NBC after the shooting.