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Jayson Williams manslaughter trial
Testimony got under way Wednesday in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial with a New Jersey state trooper describing how he saw the body of limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi lying on a carpet in a bedroom at the former NBA star's Hunterdon County mansion.
Trooper Thomas Muehleisen said 11 people were in the house at the time. Muehleisen said he found Williams leaning against a railing in the main entrance hall and that Williams led him to the bedroom where Christofi's body lay on its side on a 12-by-12-foot foot carpet.
Muehleisen said the victim had a sizable hole in his chest and a bloody white towel on his left side. The trooper said he noticed a shotgun on the floor a few feet to his left as he knelt by the victim's head.
The jury heard two versions of the shooting during opening statements on Tuesday, with a prosecutor portraying it as a reckless act and a defense lawyer insisting it was an accident. They also disagreed on what happened afterward.
The prosecutor said Williams tried to cover up his involvement by putting the victim's fingerprints on the weapon.
"This defendant took the hand of a dying man and attempted to transfer the fingerprints of a dying man to the gun," said Steven C. Lember, first assistant Hunterdon County prosecutor.
While Williams did not intend to kill Christofi, he acted with reckless indifference when he took a Browning 12-gauge shotgun from a cabinet in a bedroom and opened it and closed it in one motion, Lember said. The weapon fired and hit Christofi, who was about 3 feet away.
"That shotgun could not have fired without the defendant's finger on the trigger," Lember said.
After the shooting, Williams removed his clothing, jumped into a pool downstairs and put on new clothes, Lember said.
Defense lawyer Billy Martin repeatedly called the shooting an accident, and suggested to the jury that the former New Jersey Nets center would testify to that.
"Jayson Williams will tell you how this horrific, totally unforeseeable, accident occurred," Martin said in his hour-long opening.
In an unusual occurrence, it was interrupted twice by Lember, who objected to mentions of Williams visiting Christofi's grave and Williams' difficult childhood. State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman told the jury to ignore those remarks by Martin.
Martin also denied Lember's statements that Williams had taunted Christofi during the evening. "Jayson Williams is known, both in the NBA, his community, and his family, as a big Teddy bear," Martin said.
The shotgun was used for skeet shooting, and had no safety, Martin said, adding that the defense will present expert testimony it could not fire when closed with a finger on the trigger.
Other evidence will show that the weapon has a history of accidental discharge, and that debris in the shotgun may have contributed to its firing, Martin said.
In addition, Williams did not realize that Christofi had walked into the bedroom and was in front of him, Martin said.
After Christofi was shot, "Mr. Williams panicked," Martin said. "He instantly dove on the ground, trying to comfort Mr. Christofi."
"Maybe he should have done some things differently, but he did not have criminal intent," Martin said.
The lawyer said a Williams friend, Kent Culuko, who has pleaded guilty to evidence and witness tampering, suggested making it look like a suicide, and that he and others have adjusted their testimony after getting deals from prosecutors.
The incident happened nearly two years ago, in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2002. Christofi, 55, had driven Williams' friends from a Harlem Globetrotters show in Bethlehem, Pa., to the Mountain View Chalet restaurant in Franklin Township, then to the 65-acre Williams estate in Alexandria Township.
Lember said four members of the Globetrotters would testify at the trial and have been promised immunity from prosecution: Benoit Benjamin and Chris Morris, who had played with Williams on the Nets, and Curley "Boo" Johnson and Harold Paul Gaffney.
Williams, 35, faces eight charges, including aggravated manslaughter and witness tampering, that could 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.
Williams retired from the 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. Williams was suspended from his job as an NBA analyst for NBC after the shooting.
In January 2003, Williams paid Christofi's family a reported $2.75 million to settle their wrongful-death lawsuit.
Appearing Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America," Williams' wife, Tanya, said he has been "frustrated" by the claims made against him since the shooting occurred. While a gag order issued in the case bars her from discussing it, she believes her husband eventually will be vindicated.
"We're relived that this long and arduous process has come to a head and Jayson can present his side," she said, adding that she has created a Web site -- www.myjaysonwilliams.com -- to thank her husband's supporters.
Source: ESPN
Trooper Thomas Muehleisen said 11 people were in the house at the time. Muehleisen said he found Williams leaning against a railing in the main entrance hall and that Williams led him to the bedroom where Christofi's body lay on its side on a 12-by-12-foot foot carpet.
Muehleisen said the victim had a sizable hole in his chest and a bloody white towel on his left side. The trooper said he noticed a shotgun on the floor a few feet to his left as he knelt by the victim's head.
The jury heard two versions of the shooting during opening statements on Tuesday, with a prosecutor portraying it as a reckless act and a defense lawyer insisting it was an accident. They also disagreed on what happened afterward.
The prosecutor said Williams tried to cover up his involvement by putting the victim's fingerprints on the weapon.
"This defendant took the hand of a dying man and attempted to transfer the fingerprints of a dying man to the gun," said Steven C. Lember, first assistant Hunterdon County prosecutor.
While Williams did not intend to kill Christofi, he acted with reckless indifference when he took a Browning 12-gauge shotgun from a cabinet in a bedroom and opened it and closed it in one motion, Lember said. The weapon fired and hit Christofi, who was about 3 feet away.
"That shotgun could not have fired without the defendant's finger on the trigger," Lember said.
After the shooting, Williams removed his clothing, jumped into a pool downstairs and put on new clothes, Lember said.
Defense lawyer Billy Martin repeatedly called the shooting an accident, and suggested to the jury that the former New Jersey Nets center would testify to that.
"Jayson Williams will tell you how this horrific, totally unforeseeable, accident occurred," Martin said in his hour-long opening.
In an unusual occurrence, it was interrupted twice by Lember, who objected to mentions of Williams visiting Christofi's grave and Williams' difficult childhood. State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman told the jury to ignore those remarks by Martin.
Martin also denied Lember's statements that Williams had taunted Christofi during the evening. "Jayson Williams is known, both in the NBA, his community, and his family, as a big Teddy bear," Martin said.
The shotgun was used for skeet shooting, and had no safety, Martin said, adding that the defense will present expert testimony it could not fire when closed with a finger on the trigger.
Other evidence will show that the weapon has a history of accidental discharge, and that debris in the shotgun may have contributed to its firing, Martin said.
In addition, Williams did not realize that Christofi had walked into the bedroom and was in front of him, Martin said.
After Christofi was shot, "Mr. Williams panicked," Martin said. "He instantly dove on the ground, trying to comfort Mr. Christofi."
"Maybe he should have done some things differently, but he did not have criminal intent," Martin said.
The lawyer said a Williams friend, Kent Culuko, who has pleaded guilty to evidence and witness tampering, suggested making it look like a suicide, and that he and others have adjusted their testimony after getting deals from prosecutors.
The incident happened nearly two years ago, in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2002. Christofi, 55, had driven Williams' friends from a Harlem Globetrotters show in Bethlehem, Pa., to the Mountain View Chalet restaurant in Franklin Township, then to the 65-acre Williams estate in Alexandria Township.
Lember said four members of the Globetrotters would testify at the trial and have been promised immunity from prosecution: Benoit Benjamin and Chris Morris, who had played with Williams on the Nets, and Curley "Boo" Johnson and Harold Paul Gaffney.
Williams, 35, faces eight charges, including aggravated manslaughter and witness tampering, that could 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.
Williams retired from the 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. Williams was suspended from his job as an NBA analyst for NBC after the shooting.
In January 2003, Williams paid Christofi's family a reported $2.75 million to settle their wrongful-death lawsuit.
Appearing Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America," Williams' wife, Tanya, said he has been "frustrated" by the claims made against him since the shooting occurred. While a gag order issued in the case bars her from discussing it, she believes her husband eventually will be vindicated.
"We're relived that this long and arduous process has come to a head and Jayson can present his side," she said, adding that she has created a Web site -- www.myjaysonwilliams.com -- to thank her husband's supporters.
Source: ESPN