NJ judge to rule on whether to throw out Jayson Williams manslaughter case
By David Porter, APThursday, October 8, 2009
NJ judge to decide Williams’ manslaughter case
SOMERVILLE, N.J. — The outcome of a 7-year-old manslaughter case against Jayson Williams now rests in the hands of a New Jersey judge who will decide whether alleged racial bias and prosecutorial misconduct played a part in the retired NBA star’s 2004 trial.
Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman told lawyers Thursday he would rule on the case but he did not specify when.
Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the 2002 shotgun slaying of hired driver Costas “Gus” Christofi at Williams’ New Jersey estate. But the jury convicted him of attempting to cover up the shooting.
He was to be retried on a reckless manslaughter count when the Hunterdon County prosecutor disclosed that a former captain in his office made a racial slur while the office was investigating the death.
