N.J. Jury Acquits Williams of Manslaughter

Jayson Williams, a onetime NBA All-Star, was acquitted of manslaughter Friday in the fatal shooting of a chauffeur in his palatial New Jersey home but was convicted of trying to make the 2002 death look like a suicide.

A jury in Somerville, N.J., found Williams guilty on four lesser charges, those related to evidence tampering. But Williams, a 36-year-old former New Jersey Net forward, was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter, the most serious count against him, in the death of Costas “Gus” Christofi, a 55-year-old driver.

Williams faced up to 55 years in prison had he been convicted on all eight charges. He is expected to receive a sentence of less than five years, the maximum for the most serious conviction, though collectively the charges carry a maximum penalty of 13 years. No date was set for sentencing.

Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on the charge of reckless manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and Williams could face retrial on that charge. A juror told reporters that the panel was split, 8 to 4, in favor of acquitting Williams on that count.

“The jury has rendered a very powerful voice with what this community should do about a retrial,” defense attorney Billy Martin said.

Williams was acquitted on weapon and aggravated assault charges. He is due back in court May 21 to set a schedule for a possible new trial.

Williams retired from the NBA after the 1998-99 season because of a leg injury.

Swaying side to side, he stood as the verdicts were read, afterward whispering “thank you” to the panelists as they left the jury box. Holding hands with his wife, Tanya, he did not speak to reporters as he left the courtroom.

In March, when he advised the court that he would not take the stand, Williams told Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman, with jurors out of the courtroom: “I’m innocent. I put my trust in God. I have great confidence in this jury.”

Christofi was killed by a shotgun blast early Feb. 14, 2002, while Williams handled the firearm. The driver had met the former player only hours earlier.

During the trial, which featured testimony from four members of the Harlem Globetrotters who were touring Williams’ home at the time of the shooting, the defense argued that the double-barreled, 12-gauge Browning Citori shotgun had malfunctioned. The weapon discharged when Williams flipped it upward, snapping its open barrels closed, and sent a load of shot into Christofi’s chest.

Prosecutors charged that Williams acted recklessly, with a “manifest and extreme indifference to human life,” noting through witness testimony that he had been drinking heavily and that he had pulled the shotgun from a cabinet in his bedroom that contained three other loaded firearms.

“When you play with deadly weapons, accident is no defense,” Steven C. Lember, the lead prosecutor, told the jury.

Juror Shalisha Martin indicated that the panel disagreed.

Echoing the stance maintained by the defense throughout the trial, she said, “It was an accident. I don’t think he intended on shooting this man.”

Last year, Williams settled a civil lawsuit filed by Christofi’s brother and sister, agreeing to pay the family a reported $2.75 million. Seated behind the prosecution, Christofi’s sister, Andrea Adams, wept as the verdicts were read.

Christofi was shot about 2:30 a.m. in the master bedroom of Williams’ 41-room mansion in Alexandria Township, about 30 miles northwest of Trenton.

Earlier in the evening, witnesses testified, Williams joined a group of friends to watch the Globetrotters play at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. Afterward, Christofi was hired to drive part of the group, which had grown to include four of the Globetrotters, to dinner in Union Township, N.J.

A test taken by police eight hours after the shooting showed Williams’ blood-alcohol level to be 0.12%, .02% over the state’s legal definition of intoxication.

Five men, according to testimony, were in Williams’ bedroom or in the doorway, among them Christofi and two of the Globetrotters, when Williams took a shotgun from a cabinet. He flicked it upward in Christofi’s direction, closing the barrels.

Two witnesses, including former Clipper Benoit Benjamin, testified that they heard Williams curse the driver before closing the gun.

Williams’ attorneys contended that the 10-year-old weapon malfunctioned, discharging without the trigger being pulled when Williams snapped it closed. They called gun experts who testified that the shotgun could have misfired because of a buildup of debris.

After the pellets struck Christofi, according to testimony, Williams said, “Oh, my God. What just happened? My life is over.”

Other witnesses testified that Williams and a friend tried to put the gun in Christofi’s hands to make the shooting look like a suicide. Several witnesses testified that Williams told them to tell the police that they were downstairs in the home and that Christofi must have wandered off, found the shotgun and killed himself.

Associated Press contributed to this report.