Jurors in Williams’ Case Face Tough Job

The basic facts in the case are undisputed: Jayson Williams, a one-time NBA All-Star, pulled a loaded shotgun from a cabinet in the master bedroom of his palatial New Jersey home after a night of drinking.

He flipped the weapon upward, snapping its open barrels closed. The gun discharged, sending a load of shot screaming toward chauffeur Costas “Gus” Christofi, who stood a few feet away.

Twelve pellets struck Christofi and opened a wound in the right side of his chest. The 55-year-old driver slumped to the floor and bled to death in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2002.

Was it a tragic accident, the result of a malfunctioning firearm, as Williams’ lawyers have argued in court for the last two months?

Or was it a crime? Had Williams, 36, acted recklessly, with a “manifest and extreme indifference to human life,” as the state has charged?

Jurors will be asked to make that determination when they are given the case in Williams’ manslaughter trial in the Somerset County Courthouse. The trial, however, was thrown into disarray Thursday when Williams’ lawyers said they might seek a mistrial after it was revealed that prosecutors had failed to turn over potentially critical evidence about the shotgun.

Jurors also will have to sort out a number of other inconsistencies and contradictory witness recollections as they attempt to decide Williams’ fate.

Closing arguments were expected to begin as early as Tuesday, the presiding judge, Edward Coleman, told jurors this week. But Thursday’s events might push them into late next week or later.

The defense had rested its case Wednesday without Williams taking the stand, an about-face from a promise made in opening arguments.

“Jayson Williams will tell you what happened that night,” Billy Martin, one of Williams’ lawyers, had told the jury Feb. 10. “Jayson Williams will tell you how this horrific, totally unforeseeable accident occurred.”

But Williams, who in court wears a diamond-studded cross on the right lapel of his suits, told Coleman on Wednesday that he would not testify.

“I’m innocent,” he told the judge, with the jury out of the courtroom. “I put my trust in God. I have great confidence in this jury.”

Williams, who averaged 7.3 points and 7.5 rebounds over nine NBA seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, is charged with two counts of manslaughter, the most serious of which is aggravated manslaughter. He also faces two weapons charges and four counts of attempting to cover up his role in the shooting. He could be sentenced to 55 years in prison.

Last year, Williams settled a civil lawsuit filed by Christofi’s brother and sister, agreeing to pay the family $2.75 million.

His trial has featured testimony from four members of the Harlem Globetrotters. The 6-foot-10 Williams, who on the night of the incident was entertaining the four Globetrotters, retired from the NBA after the 1998-99 season.

A season earlier, Williams was the NBA’s second-leading rebounder and made his only All-Star appearance, resulting in a guaranteed $86-million contract. Gregarious and quotable -- he twice was named to the NBA All-Interview first team -- Williams was a commentator on NBA telecasts on NBC after he retired.

In court, his attorneys have attempted to downplay his wealth, though jurors have seen photos of Williams’ 41-room mansion, which is the centerpiece of a 65-acre estate in Alexandria Township, about 30 miles northwest of Trenton. They portray him, as others have, as a charitable, big-hearted family man. Martin, one of his lawyers, called him “a big teddy bear” and “somebody who wants to hug you.”

Williams’ wife, Tanya, is due to deliver the couple’s second child any day. She sits behind her husband in the courtroom, and she and Williams walk hand in hand into and out of the courthouse each day. A lawyer, she also maintains a website extolling her husband’s life and providing trial updates.

Not mentioned on the site -- and barred by the judge from introduction at the trial -- are previous examples of Williams mixing gunplay and alcohol, including a 2001 incident in which Williams, in front of former Net teammate Dwayne Schintzius, allegedly killed his pet watchdog with two shotgun blasts.

In 1994, Williams faced weapons charges after a handgun that he admitted to owning was fired into an unoccupied vehicle in the parking lot at the Meadowlands. Charges were dismissed after he completed a pretrial program that included taking out a series of newspaper ads warning youths about the dangers of using guns.

“My message,” he said, “will be that guns in the wrong hands can be deadly.”

Christofi was shot about 2:30 a.m. in Williams’ bedroom with a double-barreled, 12-gauge Browning Citori shotgun, prosecutors say.

Earlier in the evening, prosecutors say, 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 at a restaurant in Union Township, N.J.

Before leaving the restaurant for a late-night tour of Williams’ home, the 10 men paid a bar bill of $627.25, about $400 of which was for alcohol. Christofi reportedly did not drink. How much Williams drank is unknown, though a test taken by police eight hours after the shooting showed his blood alcohol level to be 0.12%, .02% over the state’s legal definition of intoxication.

The results, however, were not allowed into evidence because Coleman said they could lead to unfair speculation about Williams’ condition at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors say that in addition to Williams and Christofi, three other men were in Williams’ bedroom or in the doorway, among them two of the Globetrotters, when Williams took a shotgun from a cabinet that also contained three other loaded firearms. 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. Benjamin also testified that Williams, a former Net teammate, had a finger on the trigger.

The defense, however, attempted to impugn the testimony. Two other witnesses said they had not heard Williams say anything to Christofi. And a private detective hired by the defense testified that Benjamin, in a meeting with the detective about a month after the shooting, sought money or a job in exchange for a statement.

Williams’ lawyers contend that the 10-year-old firearm 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 or wear and tear in the firing mechanisms.

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. One testified that Williams handed off his clothes and ran naked to his indoor pool. Witnesses also said that Williams fell asleep on the floor after the shooting.

The defense argued that Williams panicked after the shooting but was not attempting to stage a cover-up.