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Judge orders review of racial slur against former NBA star Jayson Williams
11 hours ago
NEWARK, N.J. - The judge overseeing the retrial of former NBA star Jayson Williams ordered prosecutors Thursday to provide all details surrounding a racial slur made by an officer investigating the 2002 shotgun killing of a hired driver.
State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman said he will review the material privately before deciding what must be turned over to the defence.
Williams' defence team argued that prosecutors are obligated to give them all details about the incident, including the identity of the officer who made the slur and the person who heard the slur and subsequently filed an official complaint.
"We want to know: Who was that officer? What was his role in the nvestigation?" defence lawyer Joseph Hayden said Thursday.
"Who did he supervise? Who else was there? How were they impacted?
Were they coerced or intimidated by comments like that? This is what we should have known five years ago.
"Was it indicative of an attitude toward Mr. Williams in the investigation, or just of that particular officer?"
Hunterdon County Prosecutor J. Patrick Barnes alerted the judge about the unspecified slur in a letter Oct. 18, telling him that a "superior officer" was accused of using a racial epithet to describe Williams in a meeting sometime before the 2004 trial. The letter did not name the officer or specify what was said.
The incident was referred to the state Division of Criminal Justice for investigation, which affirmed that the officer made the slur. The still-unnamed officer did not testify at the first trial and has since resigned.
On Thursday, prosecutors denied charges they acted improperly by failing to notify the defence team about the slur or the resulting investigation.
"This individual is not the Hunterdon County equivalent of Mark Fuhrman," Hunterdon County Assistant Prosecutor Bennet Barlyn said, referring to the Los Angeles Police detective who was accused of tampering with evidence in the O.J. Simpson trial. "This individual had no pertinent knowledge about information pertinent to the case."
Williams attended the hearing with his wife, Tanya Young Williams.
Williams, 39, was convicted in April 2004 on four counts stemming from a failed attempt to cover up the shooting of Costas (Gus) Christofi but was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter. He is facing retrial on a reckless manslaughter count after jurors were unable to reach a verdict, voting 8-4 in favour of acquittal.
The retrial was scheduled for early January, but that could be delayed. Williams' lawyers have said in a court filing that they will consider moving to have Williams' earlier convictions overturned.
Witnesses at the first trial said Williams took a 12-gauge shotgun from a case in his house and snapped it closed. The gun fired once and Christofi was struck in the chest. The defence has maintained the shooting was an accident and that Williams panicked afterward.
Williams remains free on bail and has yet to be sentenced on the four coverup convictions.
A former star at St. John's, Williams played nine seasons in the NBA, including the last seven with the New Jersey Nets, and retired in 2000.
Copyright © 2007 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Posted: Thursday Dec 13, 2007 12:44 AM
HOUSTON (AP) -As long as the Houston Rockets avoided the free-throw line on Wednesday night, they did just fine against the Detroit Pistons.
Tracy McGrady scored 29 points and Yao Ming added 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Rockets nearly entered the NBA record book for foul-shot futility before beating the Pistons 80-77.
The Rockets missed 14 of their first 15 shots from the line, before finishing 6-for-22 (27 percent) to win for the third time in seven games.
Houston's throwback uniforms were all too appropriate - the 1983 Rockets went 3-for-14 from the free-throw line (21 percent) in a game against Portland. Toronto is the only team in history to not make a free throw in a regular-season game, missing all three attempts in a game against Charlotte in 1996.
Rasheed Wallace scored 21, Chauncey Billups added 15 and Richard Hamilton had 14 for Detroit, which shot 36 percent (30 of 83) and went 4-for-15 from 3-point range.
Pacers 117, Bulls 102
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Kareem Rush scored 22 points to lead Indiana over Chicago in a wild game that featured five technical fouls and two ejections.
Jamaal Tinsley added 18 points and eight assists for Indiana in first home game since he was shot at, but unhurt, early Sunday morning in downtown Indianapolis.
Ben Gordon led Chicago with 18 points, but he shot just 7-for-21 from the field.
Indiana coach Jim O'Brien was called for a technical foul with the Pacers trailing 38-24. Indiana responded with an 11-1 run.
The Bulls were leading 41-36 with 3:51 left in the second quarter when Chicago forward Tyrus Thomas took exception to a hard foul by Indiana center Troy Murphy and responded by shoving him in the face. Murphy swung back, and players from both teams intervened before things escalated.
Celtics 90, Kings 78
BOSTON (AP) - Rookie Glen Davis made his first start since taking his power game and cute name to the NBA from LSU and kept the Celtics unbeaten at home.
The young-looking, 289-pound center had 16 points and nine rebounds, and made all 10 of his free throws as Boston improved to an NBA-best 18-2.
Paul Pierce led Boston with 26 points, Ray Allen had 15 and Kevin Garnett added 11. Sacramento, playing its fourth straight game without their injured leading scorer, Kevin Martin, got 16 points each from Ron Artest and Beno Udrih and 14 from Mike Miller.
SuperSonics 117, Knicks 110
NEW YORK (AP) - Kevin Durant scored 30 points, and fellow Seattle rookie Jeff Green added 17.
Former Knicks forward Kurt Thomas scored five clutch points in the final 2:31 as Seattle handed New York its fourth straight loss. Luke Ridnour and Wally Szczerbiak each scored 12 points to help the SuperSonics snap a five-game road skid.
The Sonics bounced back impressively from a 123-96 loss in Chicago on Tuesday night. Coach P.J. Carlesimo said they got into their New York hotel around 4 a.m., but Seattle seemed to have plenty of energy, shooting a season-best 58 percent (47-of-81) from the field.
Jamal Crawford scored 29 points, and Zach Randolph added 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who usually start slowly at home. This time their troubles came late: Seattle made 13 of 18 shots in the fourth quarter.
76ers 98, Timberwolves 94
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Samuel Dalembert had 18 points, 11 rebounds and tied a career high with nine blocked shots and Andre Iguodala scored 25 points.
Willie Green added 18 points, and Andre Miller had 10 to help the suddenly surging Sixers improve to 9-13 after a season-high fourth straight win.
Al Jefferson had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who fell to an NBA-worst 3-17 and lost for the seventh time in eight games. Rashad McCants scored 15 and Marko Jaric and Antoine Walker had 14 each for Minnesota.
Bucks 100, Magic 86
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Michael Redd had 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help Milwaukee snap a four-game losing streak.
Yi Jianlian scored 18 points, Mo Williams had 15 and Andrew Bogut had 11 before fouling out in the fourth quarter for the Bucks, who were coming off a five-game road trip that ended with four straight losses.
Dwight Howard had 20 points and 13 rebounds for his league-leading 19th double-double, Rashard Lewis had 20 points and Hedo Turkoglu added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Magic who came with the NBA-best road record at 11-2. The loss also gave them their first three-game losing streak of the season.
Raptors 92, Mavericks 76 1/4
TORONTO (AP) - Kris Humphries had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Bosh scored 17 points to help Toronto beat Dallas for the first time in more than four years.
Toronto won its third straight and ended an eight-game slump against the Mavericks, whose 76 points were a season low. The Raptors' last win over the Mavericks was a 77-71 victory on Nov. 6, 2003.
Jason Terry had 21 points for Dallas, while Josh Howard added 19.
Toronto almost ended its losing streak earlier this year, but Dallas overcame a 24-point deficit to beat Toronto 105-99 on Nov. 20, the Mavericks' largest comeback for a regulation win.
Trail Blazers 105, Warriors 95
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Travis Outlaw scored 22 points and had eight rebounds to help the Trail Blazers to their fifth straight victory.
Brandon Roy had 21 points and seven assists, while Joel Przybilla had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Portland. Jones added 21 points.
Baron Davis had 23 points and 11 assists for Golden State, which has still gone 12-4 over its previous 16 games.
Nuggets 105, Hornets 99
DENVER (AP) - Carmelo Anthony had 32 points, including a three-point play with 38.4 seconds left.
Allen Iverson had 22 points and 11 assists and Marcus Camby had 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks for the Nuggets, who won their third straight and fifth in the last six.
Chris Paul had 30 points and 12 assists and David West scored 25 for New Orleans.
Bobcats 108, Clippers 103
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Raymond Felton scored 26 points and keyed a fourth-quarter surge.
Emeka Okafor added 25 points and 16 rebounds and Gerald Wallace scored 25 points for the Bobcats, who won for only the second time in 10 games.
Felton hit two free throws, had a steal, a no-look pass for an assist and hit a jumper in an 8-0 run that put Charlotte ahead 96-89 with 2:45 left. After the Clippers got within four, Wallace hit a jumper from the left corner with 1:06 left.
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