By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
SOMERVILLE, N.J. — A judge handed Jayson Williams a series of legal defeats at his manslaughter trial Tuesday, refusing to toss out any of the charges against the one-time basketball All-Star and denying his request to let jurors tour his estate.
Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman also limited the scope of a defense medical expert's testimony and ordered Williams' lawyers to edit an animated video meant to suggest to jurors that a mechanical malfunction caused the fatal shooting of a chauffeur at his mansion.
The setbacks came a day before Williams is to begin presenting a defense to aggravated manslaughter and seven other charges in the death of driver Costas "Gus" Christofi.
His lawyers said they would call two of the country's most famous forensic pathologists, Michael Baden and Cyril Wecht, to the witness stand Wednesday.
The retired NBA star's lawyers had asked Coleman to dismiss all the charges in the indictment, saying the prosecution had fallen "woefully short" in meeting its burden of proof during its six-week case.
Filing a motion to dismiss is a standard, but rarely successful, defense practice at the end of prosecutor's case. In a lengthy decision from the bench Tuesday afternoon, Coleman said prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the case to go to the jury.
He noted the testimony of two particular witnesses, former NBA player Benoit Benjamin and former European pro Kent Culuko, who told jurors that Williams turned toward the victim, cursed at him and then flipped the shotgun up toward him.
The judge said he had noted the defense's attacks on these witnesses as liars, but said such a determination was beyond his domain.
"Ultimately, the jury will decide where the credible evidence lies," he said.
No tour
Coleman said he would not allow jurors to visit the scene of the Feb. 14, 2002, shooting because it would do little to enhance their understanding of the evidence and might lead some panelists to feel sorry for Williams.
He said walking into the master bedroom where Christofi died would hardly help jurors get a better sense of the lines of sight, as the defense had argued, because Williams and his basketball-playing house guests dwarfed the average juror.
"We have jurors who are 5-foot-4 who are going to a scene and allegedly trying to take lines of site for witnesses who are 6-foot-6," he said.
He said although "it might be wonderfully curious" to go to the palatial house, "there's a great risk the jury view of his estate would result in jurors feeling a personal connection to the defendant."
"Such a connection might result in the jury reaching a verdict based on sympathy for the defendant rather than the facts," Coleman said.
As the judge made his ruling, Williams scowled and whispered to defense lawyers. His wife, Tanya, a lawyer who is expecting the couple's second child in April, sat in the front row scribbling notes on a yellow legal pad.
Gun simulation
The defense planned to show jurors a three-minute animated movie demonstrating the inner workings of the 12-gauge Browning Citori shotgun and suggesting two ways the weapon may have accidentally misfired.
Prosecutors objected to the entire animation, but Coleman said he would allow the graphic demonstration of the gun's firing mechanism and a section of the video comparing the 10-year-old gun's interior with that of a brand new weapon.
A defense gun expert is expected to testify that poor maintenance of Williams' gun could have caused it to discharge.
The judge, however, said the defense must remove a portion of the animation that shows how a wood chip caught in the firing mechanism could cause a misfire. A wood chip was found inside the gun, but not on the firing mechanism.
Coleman said the "dramatic" quality of the animation might lead jurors to become confused about the wood chip.
'Surprise' findings
Prosecutors Steven Lember and Katharine Errickson asked the judge Monday to exclude portions of the testimony of Baden, Wecht and defense gun expert Richard Ernest because all three men submitted additional reports near or after the close of the prosecution's case.
Both sides are supposed to provide each other with expert's completed reports well before trial begins, and the prosecutors objected to "surprise" findings.
Coleman said Wecht could testify about his new report — in which he concludes Christofi's hands were down at his sides and not in a defensive position — because it was not very different from his original reports.
The judge, however, limited Baden's testimony in two areas, where, he said, the pathologist was both out of his realm of expertise and tardy in submitting his conclusions. Coleman said Baden could not tell jurors that DNA evidence was inconsistent with Williams' wiping his prints from the shotgun, nor could he testify about whether Christofi was moving before he was shot.
The judge delayed making a decision on Ernest's testimony. The Texas gun examiner tested two similar weapons in addition to Williams' shotgun. The judge questioned whether his findings on the other weapons had any bearing on how Williams' gun fired.
Defense attorney Billy Martin said Ernest would testify about a "design defect" in the gun's firing mechanism. An angry Lember accused the defense of introducing a new theory "at the 11th hour and 59th minute."
"There are three reports here," he said of Ernest's findings. "There's no report that renders an opinion that there is a design defect."
One of the gun's Ernest analyzed belonged to a Missouri man who contacted the defense after watching reports about the trial on television. Harry Hoffert — who described himself as a "pleasure shooter" during a brief interview with Court TV — told the defense about an incident where his shotgun discharged accidentally, Martin said.
The lawyer said he wanted Hoffert to testify about the alleged misfire.
Coleman said he needed to review the similarities between the guns and would rule before Ernest took the witness stand.
Williams faces 55 years in prison if convicted.
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