Prosecution Rests in Williams Trial

The prosecution rested Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of former NBA player Jayson Williams.

The judge excused the jury until Monday and set arguments for today on a defense motion to dismiss charges.

Prosecutors presented 36 witnesses over 15 days of testimony in Somerville, N.J. The trial is in its sixth week.

Williams, 36, is charged with firing a shotgun blast that killed Costas “Gus” Christofi, a limousine driver, at Williams’ Hunterdon County, N.J., mansion in February 2002.

Williams faces eight charges, including aggravated manslaughter and witness tampering, that could carry up to 55 years in prison.

The prosecution says Williams was reckless when he handled the shotgun after drinking with friends.

The defense says that the shooting was accidental and that the gun was prone to malfunction.

The prosecution weapons expert whose tests challenged that assertion came under intense cross-examination Wednesday from one of Williams’ attorneys, Michael T. Kelly.

State police Det. Sgt. James Ryan insisted that the weapon operated properly, firing only when the trigger was pressed and the safety was off.

Kelly questioned whether there was any scientific basis for Ryan’s tests. Ryan said he attempted to replicate how the witnesses said Williams handled the weapon.

The defense has said that the weapon’s mechanism was fouled with debris. Ryan said he believes wood chips found as the gun was disassembled were shaved off as the stock was being removed, and had not been in the weapon’s mechanism before that.

The 12-gauge Browning double-barreled shotgun that killed Christofi behaved as expected in eight tests, some of which were repeated up to 10 times, Ryan said.

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Pro Football

The proposed trade that would send wide receiver Key- shawn Johnson to the Dallas Cowboys and wide receiver Joey Galloway to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could finally be coming together.

The deal stalled when the Buccaneers refused to offer more than $1 million for one year to Galloway, due $6.31 million under his existing contract. Tampa Bay raised its bid Wednesday, a day after Galloway visited team headquarters.

“We’re getting closer,” Galloway’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, said. “Discussions are ongoing.”

Former Denver and Miami quarterback Brian Griese agreed in principle on a three-year contract with the Buccaneers, a team that already has Brad Johnson, Jason Garrett and Chris Simms.

“It’s a three-year contract, but it’s structured more like a one-year deal,” agent Ralph Cindrich said.

“He has agreed to financial terms, but that’s about all I can say at this point.”

Griese was released this month after starting five games for the Dolphins last season.

He spent the first five years of his career with Denver, starting 51 games, going 27-24.

The New York Giants released offensive tackle Jeff Hatch, less than two years after drafting the former Penn player in the third round. New York also added depth to its defensive line, signing tackle Martin Chase, a six-year veteran who spent last season in Washington.

The New Orleans Saints re-signed offensive lineman Spencer Folau to a three-year contract.... Free safety Jerry Wilson re-signed with the San Diego Chargers.

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Golf

Zhang Lian-Wei received a special invitation to play in the Masters, making him the first player from China at Augusta National.

Zhang last year became the first Chinese winner on the European Tour when he birdied the final hole to beat Ernie Els at the Singapore Masters. He also won the China Open, and finished second on the Asian Tour money list.

Zhang is the fourth player to receive a special invitation since the Masters changed its criteria five years ago to rely more heavily on the world ranking.

The others were Aaron Baddeley (2000-01), Shingo Katayama (2001) and Greg Norman in 2002.

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Auto Racing

NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. will trade his Chevrolet Monte Carlo for a Corvette on July 18 in the American Le Mans Series event at Infinion Raceway in Sonoma.

He will co-drive with veteran road racer Boris Said in a Corvette C5-R fielded by Corvette Racing. Earnhardt raced with the Corvette team in the 2001 24 Hours of Daytona, along with his father, the late Dale Earnhardt.

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Miscellany

A Cornell lacrosse player died after he was struck in the chest by a ball during a game against Binghamton at Ithaca, N.Y.

George Boiardi, a 22-year-old senior defenseman from Washington, collapsed on the field during the fourth quarter and never regained consciousness, school spokesman Simeon Moss said.

Boiardi was defending a shot on goal with 2:33 left when the ball struck him in the chest. Boiardi took a few steps before falling to the ground. Emergency crews tried to revive him on the field through CPR and shocking him with defibrillators.

The game was called with the Big Red leading, 9-6.

Welterweights Cristian Favela (9-4-3, six knockouts) of Los Mochis, Mexico, and Marcos Licona (20-4-1, seven) of Mexico City will meet tonight in a scheduled 10-round fight to headline a five-bout card at the Irvine Marriott. Also on the card: lightweight Edgar Vargas (5-0) of Santa Ana and lightweight Mario Juarez (1-0) of Orange.

Don Flora resigned as women’s volleyball coach at La Verne to accept an assistant coaching position at Washington. Flora led the Leopards to a Division III national championship in 2001 and was 131-33 in six seasons.

NBC Sports signed a three-year deal to keep the American Century celebrity golf championship at Lake Tahoe through 2006, officials said.