Defense lawyer Mike Green said that former...

Defense lawyer Mike Green said that former Tulane University basketball star John (Hot Rod) Williams welcomes his first chance to respond to charges that he fixed a couple of basketball games last year.

Williams, now playing for the Staten Island Hawks of the U.S. Basketball League, has had his potentially lucrative National Basketball Assn. career put on hold for more than a year by the scandal.

A previous state Criminal District Court trial on the charges ended in a mistrial last year. The first trial ended before the defense had an opportunity to present its side of the case.

Before opening statements, Green asked that a mistrial be declared on the basis that prosecutors systematically excluded blacks from the jury, challenging seven potential jurors, six of them black.

Judge Patrick Quinlan overruled Green’s request for the mistrial.

The first testimony will be heard today.