Williams Enters Plea of Not Guilty

Former NBA star Jayson Williams pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he fatally shot a limousine driver and then tried to make it look as if the victim fired the gun himself.

Williams entered the plea to first-degree manslaughter and other charges during an arraignment in Flemington, N.J., before Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman. He remained free on $270,000 bail.

Williams, accompanied by his wife, Tanya, did not speak during or after the hearing. Defense attorney Joseph Hayden entered the plea on his behalf.

If convicted on all charges, he could face nearly 45 years in prison.

A second man, John W. Gordnick, pleaded not guilty to charges that he tampered with evidence to conceal Williams’ role in the Feb. 14 shooting of limousine driver Costas Christofi.

Gordnick remained free on $50,000 bail and faces a maximum sentence of nearly 12 years in prison.

Acting Hunterdon County Prosecutor Steven C. Lember said his staff has almost finished its investigation and has turned over two packets of evidence to the defense. Within weeks, Lember said, defense attorneys also will receive copies of crime-scene photographs.

Both sides are lining up nationally known experts, including forensic expert Henry Lee and pathologist Michael Baden, both of whom testified during O.J. Simpson’s trial in 1995.

The judge scheduled a status hearing for Sept. 6.

Prosecutors originally charged Williams with second-degree manslaughter, which required them to prove only that he recklessly caused the driver’s death.

But a grand jury raised the charge last month, finding Williams demonstrated extreme indifference to human life.

First-degree manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The maximum for the lesser charge is 10 years.

Hayden has called the shooting “a tragic accident.” He told the judge Friday that he planned to file a motion challenging the grand jury’s decision to raise the manslaughter charge.

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Houston Rocket Coach Rudy Tomjanovich will be among the team’s representatives who will go to China to meet with officials of the Shanghai Sharks regarding the availability of 7-foot-5 Yao Ming.

The Rockets could select Yao with the No. 1 pick in the June 26 NBA draft, but there are details to be worked out with the Shanghai team and government officials.

“There are a lot of concerns on both sides, so there needs to be a face-to-face meeting to discuss the issues,” Rocket General Manager Carroll Dawson said Friday.

The meeting is not about Yao’s abilities on the court but is about clearing up details of his availability throughout the NBA season, Dawson said.

“Basketball is not the issue, we’ve seen him play a number of times since he was 17,” he said. “We think he has a tremendous upside. This is not a basketball meeting. It is the other things that we have to get wrapped up.”

Dawson said the Rockets received an invitation from Shark President Bai Li and General Manager Li Yaomin.

Tomjanovich and Dawson will be joined on the trip by Rocket general counsel Michael Goldberg and director of media relations Nelson Luis.