Former Net Jayson Williams Arrested After Nightclub Fight

[Bukefal]

you. You have no idea what happened. Some drunk could have been calling him a ###### at the bar. Or maybe Jayson never hit him at all. Or maybe Jayson threw up his hands in self defense, you don't know. Only an idiot would jump to conclusions based on this article. What do you think Jayson did, went out and picked a fight? I doubt it. Stop being part of the sheeple, and start being part of the people!!!!

Ok.... did my words touched a sensitive part of you? is he your idol ? Anyway, this is not his first time where he went wrong. I cant help it

[Bukefal]

No, he ruined Gus Christofi's life. I hate morons who don't show respect to their firearms. Idiots like Jayson Williams are why it's so easy for people to come and clamor for our second amendment rights to be taken away. A gun's not a ing toy or something you leave sitting around where it can be easily involved in an accident.

Exactly

[Galileo]

How do you know that Christofi knew that? He was just a driver. Where is your evidence?

Where is your evidence? Whether or not he picked it up when it went off, or had it in his hands, doesn't change the fact that is was a loaded weapon. All I said was that Williams made a stupid mistake. Showing off a loaded weapon.


I forgot nothing, and I JUST said I'm not condemning Williams. What exactly are you trying to debate with me?

Williams already had a trial. He was not found guilty of anything serious.

He was convicted of supposedly "covering up a crime". But what crime is that? The justice system is a joke.

Millions of people show off things they own, including guns.

[baseline bum]

Wrong, Jayson didn't do it, the gun did it. The gun should be impounded, locked up, imprisoned, melted down, then stomped on.

Are you ing re ed? Williams is at fault for this man's death, and then he and friends tried to cover it up. You don't ing point a gun in the direction of anybody unless it's someone you're trying to kill. Anyone who shoots knows you always keep a loaded weapon pointed down or pointed up and away from anybody when you're not firing it.

Son of a tried to wipe his prints off the shotgun and make it look like a suicide. that asshole. If you're going to have weapons, treat them with proper respect and don't act like a ing child. Handling a firearm is serious .

[TimDunkem]

Williams already had a trial. He was not found guilty of anything serious.

I know. He was acquitted. His trial of reckless manslaughter on the other hand, is on hold.

He was convicted of supposedly "covering up a crime". But what crime is that? The justice system is a joke.

He allegedly tried to clean up the blood, or move the body. I forgot which, but everyone knows you don't tamper with evidence. Especially when the evidence is a dead man on your floor.

Millions of people show off things they own, including guns.

I happen to know a few. However, they don't show it off when it's loaded.

[TimDunkem]

Are you ing re ed? Williams is at fault for this man's death, and then he and friends tried to cover it up. You don't ing point a gun in the direction of anybody unless it's someone you're trying to kill. Anyone who shoots knows you always keep a loaded weapon pointed down or pointed up and away from anybody when you're not firing it.
If you're going to have weapons, treat them with proper respect and don't act like a ing child. Handling a firearm is serious .

Exactly. It's a simple concept really, but some people can't handle the responsibility. I totally agree with your observation on how this exact situation could be used as an argument against second amendment rights.

[Galileo]

Are you ing re ed? Williams is at fault for this man's death, and then he and friends tried to cover it up. You don't ing point a gun in the direction of anybody unless it's someone you're trying to kill. Anyone who shoots knows you always keep a loaded weapon pointed down or pointed up and away from anybody when you're not firing it.

Son of a tried to wipe his prints off the shotgun and make it look like a suicide. that asshole. If you're going to have weapons, treat them with proper respect and don't act like a ing child. Handling a firearm is serious .

Wrong. The legal system is at fault. If the legal system was just, people would call the police after accidents and tell them what happened.

But Jayson, like many who have awaken from a dark sleep, knows the consequences of calling the police and telling them the truth. Jayson was only protecting himself. You believe the right of self-defense, don't you?

I'm in favor of putting the legal system on trial.

Jayson is NOT at fault. It was an accident, and he had no criminal intent. When you enter a room with guns in it, you know that it possible that an accident can occur and you are assuming the risk. Outside of an intentional action, you can always fall victim to an accident. Jayson could have been shot, you know.

[Borosai]

What are you going on about? I don't know the details of this case, but I do know the event didn't take place at the Beast's castle, where the gun could've floated around freely, firing off rounds for fun while dancing and singing. Manslaughter is a crime.

manslaughter /ˈmænˌslɔː.təʳ/ US /-ˌslɑː.ţɚ/
noun [U] LEGAL
the crime of killing a person by someone who did not intend to do it or who cannot be responsible for their actions

[Galileo]

Exactly. It's a simple concept really, but some people can't handle the responsibility. I totally agree with your observation on how this exact situation could be used as an argument against second amendment rights.

Are you serious?

So a few people make a mistake with a firearm and they are going to strip us of the 2nd amendment? If you think that, you are fighting the wrong enemy.

The real enemy is the mass media. If the Williams nightclub case happened a 100 years ago, it would not be in the newspaper and no charges would be filed. The dude probably deserved it.

The Williams shooting case would have been a minor sideshow, ruled an accident.

It is only in modern Amerikkka, with the mass media enforcers (police) and the mass media, spewing propaganda and breaking up families, that people think this is important!

[Armando]

Wrong. The legal system is at fault. If the legal system was just, people would call the police after accidents and tell them what happened.

But Jayson, like many who have awaken from a dark sleep, knows the consequences of calling the police and telling them the truth. Jayson was only protecting himself. You believe the right of self-defense, don't you?

I'm in favor of putting the legal system on trial.

Jayson is NOT at fault. It was an accident, and he had no criminal intent. When you enter a room with guns in it, you know that it possible that an accident can occur and you are assuming the risk. Outside of an intentional action, you can always fall victim to an accident. Jayson could have been shot, you know.

I am not going to judge Jayson Williams we have all made mistakes but I think is time he owe up to them. Do you time and put this ugly mess behind you. When you come out the slate will be clean so to speak. On another note can we please let Vick get on with his life? I know what he did was horrible but how many times is he going to pay for it? He did his time let him resume his football career if a team wants him. Shame on PETA for be no better then a bunch of extreme nutjobs. For crying out loud you have wifebeaters and guys playing in the NFL who have killed people while driving drunk.

[Galileo]

What are you going on about? I don't know the details of this case, but I do know the event didn't take place at the Beast's castle, where the gun could've floated around freely, firing off rounds for fun while dancing and singing. Manslaughter is a crime.

manslaughter /ˈmænˌslɔː.təʳ/ US /-ˌslɑː.ţɚ/
noun [U] LEGAL
the crime of killing a person by someone who did not intend to do it or who cannot be responsible for their actions

"manslaughter" is a legal fiction.

[Spursfan092120]

I am not going to judge Jayson Williams we have all made mistakes but I think is time he owe up to them. Do you time and put this ugly mess behind you. When you come out the slate will be clean so to speak. On another note can we please let Vick get on with his life? I know what he did was horrible but how many times is he going to pay for it? He did his time let he resume his football career if a team wants him. Shame on PETA for be no better then a bunch of extreme nutjobs. For crying out loud you have wifebeaters and guys playing in the NFL who have killed people while driving drunk.

Thank you..I've tried to say this many times in here...most people agree..but the problem with PETA is, they believe animals should have more rights than people...

[Armando]

Thank you..I've tried to say this many times in here...most people agree..but the problem with PETA is, they believe animals should have more rights than people...

I know the way PETA acts you think he belongs in Gitmo.

[Spursfan092120]

I know the way PETA acts you think he belongs in Gitmo.

It's ridiculous. They don't protest murderers...they protest people putting makeup on animals.

[baseline bum]

Are you serious?

So a few people make a mistake with a firearm and they are going to strip us of the 2nd amendment? If you think that, you are fighting the wrong enemy.

Yes, idiots leave their guns in positions where they can be used by children, where they can go off accidentally, and all of a sudden everyone is calling for gun bans. Jayson Williams is a stupid piece of who should be doing time for killing an innocent man. "I was drunk and ing around" isn't a suitable defense for why you killed someone.

[baseline bum]

I am not going to judge Jayson Williams we have all made mistakes but I think is time he owe up to them. Do you time and put this ugly mess behind you. When you come out the slate will be clean so to speak. On another note can we please let Vick get on with his life? I know what he did was horrible but how many times is he going to pay for it? He did his time let him resume his football career if a team wants him. Shame on PETA for be no better then a bunch of extreme nutjobs. For crying out loud you have wifebeaters and guys playing in the NFL who have killed people while driving drunk.

Totally agree with you on Vick.

[Galileo]

Yes, idiots leave their guns in positions where they can be used by children, where they can go off accidentally, and all of a sudden everyone is calling for gun bans. Jayson Williams is a stupid piece of who should be doing time for killing an innocent man. "I was drunk and ing around" isn't a suitable defense for why you killed someone.

dude, this has been going on for hundreds of years. It is only recently that the mass media blasts every incident far and wide. It doesn;t have to be this way.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

why the does this guy get press....he should be isolated and forgotten, send him to Gitmo or something...

[Galileo]

why the does this guy get press....he should be isolated and forgotten, send him to Gitmo or something...

There is a constant drumbeat in the way crime is reported.

First of all, they always report what the police say with pro-police spin.

Second, no matter how petty, any minor scrap by any person who had the least amount of name recognition, gets reported on. This includes drunk driving tickets by has been rock stars, drug possession by NFL players who retired 20 years ago, it gets reported as if this is supposedly important news. If a college football player gets a disorderly conduct ticket, you can bet it will be big statewide news, even if the dude is third string, or it happens in the off-season.

With Jayson Williams, he seemed to be a pretty decent and professional guy. He had a good reputation in college and in the NBA, and became a broadcaster.

He gets involved in ONE incident, ONE accident that happened SEVEN YEARS AGO.

Since then, every single story about this guy has been negative. SEVEN YEARS reporting all the bull around his trial. And he basically won the trial.

The major claims made by the government was NOT AGREED TO by the jury. Yet this gets lost in the shuffle.

DRUMBEAT = YOU HAVE BEEN DUPED

[lefty]

In related news, Kobe just got arrested outside of the Pepsi Center

[duncan228]

Prosecutors seek jail for Williams

Prosecutors on Wednesday asked a judge to sentence Jayson Williams for covering up a fatal shooting at his mansion in 2002 and cited the former NBA star's recent erratic behavior, including an assault arrest in North Carolina.

Williams, 41, was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in 2004 but convicted on four counts of trying to cover up the slaying of a hired driver at his mansion. The jury couldn't reach a reckless manslaughter count, and State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman has delayed sentencing pending Williams' retrial on that charge.

The four cover-up counts, which include witness and evidence tampering, carry a combined maximum sentence of 13 years in prison, but Williams is not expected to receive a term longer than five years, the maximum sentence for the most serious charge.

A month ago, police used a stun gun on Williams during an altercation in a New York hotel room, and last weekend he was arrested in North Carolina and charged with assault for allegedly punching someone in a barroom dispute. Earlier this year, his wife filed divorce papers claiming he was abusive and had a drug problem.

"Defendant's escalating acts of unlawful and aberrant behavior must incur consequences that he has thus far evaded as the clear result of never having been sentenced on his convictions," Hunterdon County Assistant Prosecutor Bennett Barlyn wrote in Wednesday's motion.

Williams' retrial, now scheduled for January, has been pushed back several times, notably after it was disclosed in 2007 that an investigator in the prosecutor's office used a racial slur to describe Williams in 2002. Williams' defense team is seeking to have the cover-up convictions reversed on grounds of racial bias.

Barlyn argued in court papers that those efforts should be considered by an appellate court and should not delay sentencing.

"Further litigation, appeals and unanticipated delays are an absolute certainty," he wrote. "These anticipated and inevitable postponements should no longer delay sentencing for the crimes defendant has been found guilty of committing."

It was not immediately known when Coleman would rule on the motion.

Parties in the case are under a gag order issued by Coleman. Barlyn and Joseph Hayden Jr., the lead attorney representing Williams, did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Williams did not return a phone message Wednesday.

According to witnesses, 55-year-old Costas Christofi was killed when Williams took a loaded 12-gauge shotgun from a cabinet in his bedroom in front of several people and cracked it open, then snapped it closed. The gun fired once, hitting Christofi in the chest.

Witnesses testified that Williams wiped down the shotgun and placed it in the victim's hands, then stripped off his own clothes and jumped into his pool.

Williams' defense team says the shooting was an accident and that the gun misfired. Christofi's family received a reported $2.75 million settlement from Williams in 2003.

A former star at St. John's University, Williams played nine seasons in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets. Injuries forced him to retire in 2000.

[Galileo]

Prosecutors seek jail for Williams

Prosecutors on Wednesday asked a judge to sentence Jayson Williams for covering up a fatal shooting at his mansion in 2002 and cited the former NBA star's recent erratic behavior, including an assault arrest in North Carolina.

Williams, 41, was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in 2004 but convicted on four counts of trying to cover up the slaying of a hired driver at his mansion. The jury couldn't reach a reckless manslaughter count, and State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman has delayed sentencing pending Williams' retrial on that charge.

The four cover-up counts, which include witness and evidence tampering, carry a combined maximum sentence of 13 years in prison, but Williams is not expected to receive a term longer than five years, the maximum sentence for the most serious charge.

A month ago, police used a stun gun on Williams during an altercation in a New York hotel room, and last weekend he was arrested in North Carolina and charged with assault for allegedly punching someone in a barroom dispute. Earlier this year, his wife filed divorce papers claiming he was abusive and had a drug problem.

"Defendant's escalating acts of unlawful and aberrant behavior must incur consequences that he has thus far evaded as the clear result of never having been sentenced on his convictions," Hunterdon County Assistant Prosecutor Bennett Barlyn wrote in Wednesday's motion.

Williams' retrial, now scheduled for January, has been pushed back several times, notably after it was disclosed in 2007 that an investigator in the prosecutor's office used a racial slur to describe Williams in 2002. Williams' defense team is seeking to have the cover-up convictions reversed on grounds of racial bias.

Barlyn argued in court papers that those efforts should be considered by an appellate court and should not delay sentencing.

"Further litigation, appeals and unanticipated delays are an absolute certainty," he wrote. "These anticipated and inevitable postponements should no longer delay sentencing for the crimes defendant has been found guilty of committing."

It was not immediately known when Coleman would rule on the motion.

Parties in the case are under a gag order issued by Coleman. Barlyn and Joseph Hayden Jr., the lead attorney representing Williams, did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Williams did not return a phone message Wednesday.

According to witnesses, 55-year-old Costas Christofi was killed when Williams took a loaded 12-gauge shotgun from a cabinet in his bedroom in front of several people and cracked it open, then snapped it closed. The gun fired once, hitting Christofi in the chest.

Witnesses testified that Williams wiped down the shotgun and placed it in the victim's hands, then stripped off his own clothes and jumped into his pool.

Williams' defense team says the shooting was an accident and that the gun misfired. Christofi's family received a reported $2.75 million settlement from Williams in 2003.

A former star at St. John's University, Williams played nine seasons in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets. Injuries forced him to retire in 2000.

Looks like the government is pretty desperate to take this guy down. After 7 years of abuse from the government, it is starting to work.

Message - don't ever make any mistakes

[baseline bum]

Message - Don't ever shoot a guy and try to cover it up.

[Galileo]

Message - Don't ever shoot a guy and try to cover it up.

Jayson never shot anyone. The gun went off by accident. If someone is going to show off a loaded gun, don't go into the room, you are running the risk of a possible accident.

[baseline bum]

Jayson never shot anyone. The gun went off by accident. If someone is going to show off a loaded gun, don't go into the room, you are running the risk of a possible accident.

OK.. message is don't point a gun at someone, kill him, and try to cover it up and make it look like a suicide.