SOMERVILLE, N.J. -- The Jayson Williams defense team has
used its first two witnesses to reinforce one of its main themes:
that law enforcement performed a slipshod and incomplete
investigation.
The jury in the manslaughter trial heard from two defense
experts last week. Both raised questions about the competence of
state and Hunterdon County agents who investigated the fatal
shooting of a chauffeur at the estate of the retired NBA star.
The trial enters its eighth week Monday, with one of the
experts, Richard N. Ernest, still on the witness stand. The defense
case is expected to take at least the entire week. It is to be
followed by a short prosecution rebuttal before deliberations can
begin.
The trial had originally been scheduled to take eight weeks, but
much of one week was scrapped when the mother of a defense lawyer
died. Further delay is possible: Williams' wife, Tanya, is due to
deliver their second child early in April.
Williams is accused of recklessly snapping shut a shotgun, which
then discharged, killing van driver Costas "Gus" Chrisotofi. The
shooting happened in the master bedroom of his mansion in the early
hours of Feb. 14, 2002, while Williams was giving a tour to
friends.
Williams is also charged with attempting to make Christofi's
death look like a suicide and with persuading others to lie that
they were downstairs when the shot was fired.
Ernest has challenged testimony from state police Detective Sgt.
James Ryan, the prosecution expert who tested Williams' gun. Ryan
said the weapon operated properly, firing only when the trigger was
pressed and the safety was off.
Ernest insisted the worn and fouled firing mechanism was liable
to malfunction, and raised questions about Ryan's competence. He
testified that Ryan was unaware of testing procedures in place for
two decades, and suggested the officer did not know how to
disassemble the weapon.
Ernest's testimony has also given the jury the impression that
investigators attempted to derail his inspection of the weapon.
During argument without the jury, defense lawyer Billy Martin
told the judge that such testimony addresses the integrity of the
investigation and would show that law enforcement "had blinders
on" and did not wish to reassess how the shooting happened.
First Assistant Hunterdon County Prosecutor Steven C. Lember
objected, saying it was not relevant and it would mislead the jury
to suggest any "nefarious purpose" by investigators.
State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman permitted the
inquiry.
The first defense expert, Dr. Michael Baden, a noted forensic
pathologist, said investigators erred by leaving Christofi's body
in the bedroom for too long, some 12 hours.
By then, rigor mortis set in, and the stiffened body had to be
manipulated so it could fit in the body bag, he said. As a result,
evidence was altered, including the transfer of blood to other
parts of Christofi's shirt, said Baden, medical examiner for New
York State Police and former medical examiner for the City of New
York.
Ernest is a former crime scene investigator with the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation who now owns Alliance Forensic Laboratory
in Fort Worth, Texas. He is to testify this week about experiments
he did with the same model of shotgun that killed Christofi.
During a hearing last week without the jury present, Ernest said
testing showed that the shotgun he acquired malfunctioned in 70 of
100 attempts when a wood chip was placed in a specific part of the
firing mechanism.
Lember objected to the proposed testimony, asserting the test
was not relevant because it could not be replicated outside a
laboratory and that Ernest never found a wood chip in that location
in Williams gun. Coleman said the jury could determine what weight
to give Ernest's experiments.
The eight charges carry penalties of up to 55 years in prison.
The least of the charges carries a penalty of up to 18 months in
prison, but would likely result in probation.
Williams, 36, had gone with some friends to see a Harlem
Globetrotters game in Bethlehem, Pa. Christofi, 55, had driven four
Globetrotters from the game to a restaurant near the Williams
estate for dinner with Williams and most of the group. They then
went to the mansion in Alexandria Township.
Williams retired from the New Jersey Nets in 2000 after a decade
in the NBA, unable to overcome a broken leg suffered a year earlier
in a collision with a teammate. He was suspended from his job as an
NBA analyst for NBC after the shooting.