Jury in Trial of Ex-Nets Star Won't Hear of Pet's Killing
By BOB HANLEY
Published: February 5, 2004
OMERVILLE, N.J., Feb. 4 - The judge in the manslaughter trial of Jayson Williams refused on Wednesday to allow prosecutors to introduce evidence about Mr. Williams's killing of his pet watchdog with two shotgun blasts in 2001.
The judge, Edward M. Colman, barred any testimony about the death of the dog, a Rottweiler named Zeus, saying it would inflame the jury and undercut Mr. Williams's right to a fair trial.
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"I can't think of anything that would be more prejudicial," Judge Colman said. He ruled that prosecutors had substantial other admissible evidence to support their charges against Mr. Williams in the fatal shooting of a chauffeur, Costas Christofi, in the master bedroom at Mr. Williams's Hunterdon County estate on Feb. 14, 2002.
Mr. Williams, 35, a former star with the New Jersey Nets, is accused of aggravated manslaughter, manslaughter and two weapons charges in the death of Mr. Christofi. He is also charged with four crimes relating to an attempt to cover up the shooting, including tampering with evidence and tampering with witnesses.
Katharine Errickson, an assistant Hunterdon County prosecutor, said the shooting of the dog undercut the defense contention that the fatal shooting of Mr. Christofi was a tragic accident. Ms. Errickson said Mr. Williams had a history of recklessly handling guns after drinking.
In the hours before Mr. Christofi's death, Mr. Williams and several friends, including four members of the Harlem Globetrotters, had been drinking at a restaurant near the Williams estate.
The dog was shot, Ms. Errickson said, in August 2001, about six months before Mr. Christofi was killed, after Mr. Williams had been drinking in a restaurant with two friends, including Dwayne Schintzius, a former professional basketball player who was staying at Mr. Williams's estate at the time. Ms. Errickson said prosecutors learned of the shooting in an anonymous letter mailed to them.
She said detectives later learned that the watchdog was killed over a $100 bet. After the three men returned to Mr. Williams's estate from the restaurant, Mr. Schintzius bet Mr. Williams $100 he could drag the dog out of the home, Ms. Errickson said. Mr. Williams accepted the bet, she said. Mr. Schintzius then grabbed the Rottweiler by its hind legs and pulled it from the house.
Mr. Williams left the room, and Mr. Schintzius thought he would return with the $100, Ms. Errickson said. Instead, she went on, he came back with a shotgun and fired two rounds at the dog, nearly decapitating it. Ms. Errickson said that Mr. Williams then reloaded the weapon, pointed it at Mr. Schintzius and told him, using a profanity, to get the "dog off my porch or you're next."
The other gun incident Ms. Errickson cited occurred in January 1994 while Mr. Williams was still playing for the Nets. After drinking with a friend, Mr. Williams fired one shot from a handgun into the hubcap of a security vehicle in the New Jersey Meadowlands, where the Nets played, Ms. Errickson said. Judge Colman also excluded testimony about that incident, saying it happened too long ago to be relevant.
Ms. Errickson had told Judge Colman it was "very important" that the jury learn of the two shooting incidents or it would "buy into" the defense argument that Mr. Christofi's death was an accident. "He knew the danger of mixing guns and alcohol," Ms. Errickson said.
One of Mr. Williams's lawyers, Joseph Hayden, denounced Ms. Errickson's presentation as an attempt to "smear" Mr. Williams. Mr. Hayden argued that New Jersey appeals courts in recent years had discouraged introduction of evidence that shows a defendant has a "propensity" to commit a crime.
Judge Colman agreed and said the state had other, less prejudicial evidence, including witness accounts, to support their case. He said prosecutors could introduce evidence that four of six shotguns and rifles in Mr. Williams's bedroom were loaded, a fact, the judge said, that supported the prosecution theory that Mr. Williams was reckless with his guns. He also allowed testimony showing that Mr. Williams taunted and swore at Mr. Christofi before the shooting.
After the rulings the trial was recessed until Monday, when a jury of 12, with four alternates, will be picked from a pool of 64 potential jurors chosen since Jan. 13.