I am not talking about the second round of testing on the popular game show hosted by Alex Trebec, but rather I am talking about the trial of Jayson Williams.If you have forgotten, Williams had some friends over to his mansion in New Jersey, had too much to drink, then started showing off one of his shotguns and accidentally shot Costas “Gus” Christofi killing him.The realization that he just killed someone shook him from the stupor of the alcohol and suddenly he started trying to cover up what he had done.He first tried to say that Gus had committed suicide.Later on he changed his tune when some of his buddies at the scene admitted that he did shoot Christofi.
Two years later, Williams is still free on bail while he awaits the appeals process on the reckless manslaughter charge.Williams was convicted on four charges of trying to “cover up” the crime, which he did do.The jury deadlocked on the reckless manslaughter charge so now the DA in this case has appealed to a three judge panel to try and allow him to retry Williams on that charge. The panel has agreed that Jayson can be retried and that it is not double jeopardy. This is where I have a bit of a problem and believe our justice system is "out of whack."
Now I like Jayson Williams and always have but that has nothing to do with my take on this particular case.The facts in this incident are pretty clear to me and I would think to anyone who can read.Jayson Williams did kill Gus Christofi. That is not in dispute by anyone. So why did a jury deadlock on “reckless manslaughter?”Should he be retried again for the same crime?Is this double jeopardy?Should he be sentenced on the four cover up charges and the DA let this one go?
I believe the jury deadlocked on the reckless manslaughter charges, (The actual verdict was 8-4, not guilty, and a mistrial was declared) partially because of the way our prosecutors go after criminals.The DA in this case went after Jayson Williams with a vengeance.He did not charge him with only reckless manslaughter, he charged him first with aggravated assault which is much harder to prove.Had the DA simply gone after Williams on the charge of trying to cover up the crime and for reckless manslaughter, I believe Jayson Williams would be behind bars today. Because the DA said it was trying to prove it was aggravated assault which carries the connotation that Williams wanted to kill him and then also tries to charge him with reckless assault which means he did it by accident you have a two opposing charges. I do not believe you can say he did one without discounting the other but that is what the DA tried to prove. Also the defense tried to prove it was an accidental shooting, which it probably was. Williams was never known as a violent person and he did not personally dislike Gus Chritofi. There was no motive to kill him and in that regard the prosecutions case was very weak.
The question is since he did not follow that course of action should Williams be retried again?In my opinion, it is double jeopardy and I do not believe he should be retried.Once again, it will waste tax payer money on a crime that was not intentional and possibly receive the same outcome because of the negligence of this prosecutor.It is even harder to get a prosecution in a retrial and this is not a crime that is likely to recur.Also, Williams needs to be sentenced for the cover up charges which can bring up to 5 years in jail.I say go ahead and sentence the guy and go for the maximum for those four charges and drop the retrial.Go find some criminals with malicious intent and put them in jail.
If this were a double jeopardy question, “Who was an NBA player with a great career but ruined his life because of alcohol?”The answers might vary depending on who the contestants are, (Pictured at left are: Socalsportsfan as Trebec, and the contestants are Mooresports, Girl on Top, and Hazwasted) but “Who is Jayson Williams” would be correct along with “Who is Vin Baker” but that is for another blog. Answer this Double Jeopardy question for me, "What good can happen when you mix alcohol, athletes, and guns?" Contestants, I await your answers.
Mixing acohol and athletes is fine. I usually enjoy a beer while I'm at the ball game. The guns don't really mix to well though. I don't think this case needs a retrial, but we may still see a civil suit. That would have to be funded by the victims family I believe. I am not exactly sure how that works.
Lionsman, Jayson did shoot him. That is not in dispute. The real question is did he intentionally mean to harm the man. It's just like #### Cheney shooting his hunting buddy after a beer or two.
i do believe the gun belonged to williams, if i remember correctly.
also, it is my understanding that, if a mistrial is called, a new trial can be awarded if the prosecution finds new evidence that strengthens their case. law and order is good for something besides checking out angie harmon's legs.
i lost track of all the particulars of this case, but i'm almost positive that christofi's family will get a huge civil judgement out of this regardless of the criminal action.
if the prosecution has new evidence, and a new trial is granted, i personally hope he gets convicted. the 4 counts he was found guilty on mean little to the man's family, after all, williams will be a free man at some point, and christofi will still be dead.
so just because he didnt mean to he should get away with it?
should we let all drunk drivers who cause accidents off because they were just too drunk to really have control of the vehicle? the man needs to be punished. by the way, if he was that drunk, how did he manage to load the gun? what if he had shot his wife instead? what if he had shot a former teammate? it doesnt matter who he shot, it just matters that he did it, and now he should take responsibility for it, and accept the consequences for his actions.
Cuz, you are correct and it is his gun. As far as Angie Harmon goes, she has been long gone from Law and Order, you must be watching reruns on TNT.
As to new evidence, there is none. The panel ruled that this is a continuation of the old trial, which in my opinion is bad law. Either he is guilty or he isn't.
As to he should be punished just because he made a mistake, I think he should be punished with the 5 years for the cover up, but not if he did not mean to shoot him. Hunting buddies get shot and sometimes killed and no one is ever prosecuted in those cases. There are vehicular homicides that are let go when a drunk driver kills someone and I think those should be prosecuted more than this case. The Christofi family will get a huge settlement from Jayson Williams and even though a huge amount of money will not bring Gus back, neither will having Williams sit in jail for life. If Jayson did it out of malice and had motive, then yes, I think he should go to jail for good.
Lionsman, they were not exactly buddies. Gus Christofi was the chauffer for that evening. He was working for them because Jayson had some friends brought to his NJ mansion for a party.
Last edited by socalsportsfan on April 22nd at 9:33 AM.
i'm afraid we might get into a huge debate here, but i will say this. EVERY case in which a drunk driver or intoxicated individual injures or kills someone with a vehicle, weapon or their bare hands should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. too many people use intoxication as a defense for their actions, and say they werent themselves because of the alcohol or drugs circulating in their bodies. to me, thats b.s. the truth is, he killed a man, whether it was in a drunken stupor or stone cold sober. if he had been sober, he still would have tried to cover it up, convince us that the man killed himself, or that the gun accidentally went off. the difference is, had he been sober, a jury likely wouldnt have accepted any of these cover up attempts, and found him guilty of either the reckless manslaughter charge, or something more serious.
as to watching law and order reruns, i do on occasion catch an episode or 2, but i actually prefer Criminal Intent to the original at this point.
one more thing, if he should be punished for covering up the crime, shouldnt he also, by default, be found guilty of the crime he tried to cover up? sure a life sentence may be a bit extreme if it truly was an accident, but the fact he tried to cover it up takes something away from that defense, and actually makes the crime bigger than had he just admitted to the "accident" from the start.
Cuz, I can live with the viewpoint that he killed a man and should be punished, but are you saying no one is ever accidentally killed?? My dad's cousin was accidentally killed in an accident, and I can honestly say I did not want that man punished for an obvioius accident. If I am in a room with a drunk and he wants to show me his shotgun, shouldn't he at least have some of the blame for going into that room? Sometimes you hear people say things like, if you go out after midnight, drinking, wearing provocative stuff as a woman, you deserve what you get. WHile I do not believe that per se, I do believe this could have been avoided had the driver waited in the car. He wanted to go inside this rich guy's house. There is some culpability on the driver's part.
As for punishment for the cover up. The cover up is the crime, not an accidental shooting. Cover up is a crime in and of itself.
Last edited by socalsportsfan on April 22nd at 10:16 AM.
no, i'm not saying that there are no accidental killings. i'm simply saying that, from williams' standpoint, with all of his cover up stories, it makes his now accidental shooting defense less believable to me. that is why i think the cover up itself becomes an even bigger crime, because if it truly was an accident, there should not have been a need for a cover up in the first place. PLUS, the fact that he was intoxicated when the accident occurred leads me to think that there are 2 crimes he wont be punished for here. being intoxicated and handling a firearm, whether its in your own home or out in public, in the presence of others is just plain stupid. i agree that, since christofi was there he is slightly responsible for the incident. as they say, in car accidents you are 10% at fault just for being there. however, i dont believe christofi is 10% at fault for his own death.
here's my thought on if i was in a room with a drunk who wanted to show me his shotgun.....I LEAVE. plain and simple, i dont care who he is, how close of friends we might be, or anything else, i'm out of there. but that still doesnt mean williams should get away with killing another human being inside his own home.
Great blog. I hadn't kept up with the case's more recent developments. The old saying that 'justice delayed is justice denied' cuts both ways. If they were going to retry Williams they should have done so long before now. I don't think retrying a case that resulted in a hung jury is double jeopardy, but waiting so long to pursue it is questionable.
I'm honestly not sure how Double Jeopardy works in the court system, but I think killing a guy because you were drunk deserves time behind bars. That's why people shouldn't get drunk. Plus he tryed to cover it up.
Plus I love the SNL picture, those skits were freaking great. Its a shame SNL isn't any good anymore. Good post SoCal.
Dudski, I don't think the case was delayed because of the prosecution, it was because of Williams' appeals process which is part of our system. The DA wanted to retry him right away. As to a hung jury, he was pronounced not guilty and even if it is for a hung jury, our system says you can not retry a man for the same crime. The panel of judges is getting around this by saying it is a continuation of the same trial. That is legalese for, "We want you to pay for killing someone and we never thought a jury would let you walk."
Cuz, I would like to think that all of us would just turn ourselves in when we do something stupid, but in this circumstance, I can see how a drunk athlete would try to cover it up until it was obvious it would come out.
Thanks for the comments guys. This is a case that no one wins. It is a shame because Jayson Williams was a very likable analyst for ESPN after his career was cut short by injuries.
Thanks for the nod as a contestant--am I Sean Connery? If I am, am I required to make obscene comments and say "Your mother, Trebek?" Nice post, Socal.
I am not talking about the second round of testing on the popular game show hosted by Alex Trebec, but rather I am talking about the trial of Jayson Williams.
Two years later, Williams is still free on bail while he awaits the appeals process on the reckless manslaughter charge.
If this were a double jeopardy question, “Who was an NBA player with a great career but ruined his life because of alcohol?”
