Juror Questioning Delays Jayson Williams Trial

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Juror Questioning Delays Williams Trial

By JEFFREY GOLD
SOMERVILLE, N.J. - Potential jurors in the manslaughter trial of former basketball star Jayson Williams were questioned on Monday about their exposure to media coverage.

Asked by state Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman if they had seen or been told about any recent media reports, more than a dozen of the 61 remaining members of the jury pool raised their hands.

The judge also said 18 potential jurors who joined the pool early in the process had to be interviewed about some broadcasts that took place after they were qualified. The judge then began questioning them individually.

One female member of the pool was excused when she said a friend had told her about reports last week that Williams had killed his pet Rottweiler with a shotgun after losing a bet involving the dog.

"I'm an animal lover. I don't understand when people do something like that," said the woman, whose name was not available.

Limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi was slain in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2002, in Williams' second-floor bedroom after the retired New Jersey Nets center and his friends had been out drinking.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Williams didn't intend to kill anyone when he grabbed a shotgun from his bedroom.

Christofi, 55, had driven the friends from a Harlem Globetrotters show in Bethlehem, Pa., to a restaurant, then to the 65-acre Williams estate in Alexandria Township.

Williams, 35, faces seven charges, including aggravated manslaughter and witness tampering, that could carry up to 55 years in prison.

Following the questioning of individual jurors, there will be a round of challenges in which prosecutors and defense lawyers can disqualify as many as 32 potential jurors _ 20 by the defense, 12 by the prosecution _ without stating a reason.

After that, the jury will be seated and opening statements will begin. Opening statements had been expected Monday morning but jury selection took longer than expected.

In one of the televised interviews that inspired the judge to impose a gag order, Williams told ABC's "20/20": "This was an unforeseeable accident. That's all I can explain. It was just a terrible, horrible, worst-night-of-my-life accident that could ever occur." He also said he visits Christofi's grave every Sunday after church.

Two of Williams' friends pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence, one for wiping down the shotgun that killed Christofi and the other for hiding Williams' clothes. Both are prepared to testify that they acted at Williams' request.

Williams retired from the 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. Williams was suspended from his job as an NBA analyst for NBC after the shooting.

In January 2003, Williams paid Christofi's family a reported $2.75 million to settle their wrongful-death lawsuit.