Lynn Gweeny
05-12-2008, 11:02 AM
Family said no to deal
Jayson Williams would have served year in prison
Monday, May 12, 2008
By Jennifer Golson
The Star-Ledger
Before moving forward with a reckless-manslaughter case against Jayson Williams, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office floated the idea of a plea deal to the victim's family, which would have sent the former pro basketball player to prison for one year.
Andrea Adams, 63, said the former lead prosecutor and a member of the victim's witness unit stopped by her family's diner in Somerville last year. She then met with the county prosecutor and while she doesn't remember the specifics, the end result was clear:
"All I know was he would definitely do one year," Adams said of the former Nets player, who has been tried once in the death of her brother, limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi.
The Bridgewater resident denounced the notion before it went further.
A gag order prohibits Williams and his attorneys from discussing the case or a pending retrial. Hunterdon County Prosecutor J. Patrick Barnes declined comment and defense attorney Joseph Hayden Jr. of Roseland did not return calls.
But Adams' recollection offers a glimpse behind the scenes as the prosecution prepares to retry Williams in Christofi's shooting death on Feb. 14, 2002.
Christofi, 55, of Washington, was hired to drive members of the Harlem Globetrotters to the estate Williams then owned in Alexandria Township. Williams later allegedly mishandled a shotgun, which discharged and hit Christofi in the chest.
The prosecution says Williams, 40, recklessly handled the gun; the defense says it was an accident.
In 2004, a jury cleared Williams of the most serious charges, including aggravated manslaughter, but convicted him of trying to cover up the shooting. Reckless manslaughter was the only charge on which jurors could not agree.
A new trial was scheduled for January, but Barnes raised concerns about a former investigator who described Williams with a racial slur during a 2002 meeting.
The prosecutor sent Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman a letter in October asking him to privately consider how to handle the potentially inflammatory information.
The state Division of Criminal Justice sustained the allegation. Barnes disciplined the officer, who was not named and later left. The defense team didn't know about the incident until Coleman contacted them about the letter and pulled all the parties together for a conference call Oct. 25. Williams' lawyers filed a motion in December demanding more information.
During a court hearing in December, Hayden accused the prosecution of trying to cover up an investigator's racial bias and said they have no way of knowing what impact the comments had on the previous trial. Assistant Prosecutor Bennett Barlyn said the officer was never called as a witness, had no direct knowledge of the case and did not directly handle evidence.
Coleman decided to review the material, then brought the attorneys into his chambers to do the same. Barlyn appealed the ruling in January and a panel of appellate judges will hear the matter Wednesday.
Moving forward, it's still unclear who will be the lead prosecutor in the upcoming trial. Former First Assistant Prosecutor Steven Lember, who handled the first trial, resigned in July, citing differences in the philosophy of the office.
Former Assistant Prosecutor Katharine Errickson, who was second chair, was prepared to take it over. It was Errickson who met with Adams at the diner and explained the potential deal that prompted Adams to seek a meeting with Barnes.
"He (Barnes) asked me how I would feel about a plea bargain and I told him absolutely not," she said. "He agreed to do whatever I wanted. When I said I wanted them to fight to get him convicted, that's what they said they were going to do."
http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/nj/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1210565135271620.xml&coll=2&thispage=1
Jayson Williams would have served year in prison
Monday, May 12, 2008
By Jennifer Golson
The Star-Ledger
Before moving forward with a reckless-manslaughter case against Jayson Williams, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office floated the idea of a plea deal to the victim's family, which would have sent the former pro basketball player to prison for one year.
Andrea Adams, 63, said the former lead prosecutor and a member of the victim's witness unit stopped by her family's diner in Somerville last year. She then met with the county prosecutor and while she doesn't remember the specifics, the end result was clear:
"All I know was he would definitely do one year," Adams said of the former Nets player, who has been tried once in the death of her brother, limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi.
The Bridgewater resident denounced the notion before it went further.
A gag order prohibits Williams and his attorneys from discussing the case or a pending retrial. Hunterdon County Prosecutor J. Patrick Barnes declined comment and defense attorney Joseph Hayden Jr. of Roseland did not return calls.
But Adams' recollection offers a glimpse behind the scenes as the prosecution prepares to retry Williams in Christofi's shooting death on Feb. 14, 2002.
Christofi, 55, of Washington, was hired to drive members of the Harlem Globetrotters to the estate Williams then owned in Alexandria Township. Williams later allegedly mishandled a shotgun, which discharged and hit Christofi in the chest.
The prosecution says Williams, 40, recklessly handled the gun; the defense says it was an accident.
In 2004, a jury cleared Williams of the most serious charges, including aggravated manslaughter, but convicted him of trying to cover up the shooting. Reckless manslaughter was the only charge on which jurors could not agree.
A new trial was scheduled for January, but Barnes raised concerns about a former investigator who described Williams with a racial slur during a 2002 meeting.
The prosecutor sent Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman a letter in October asking him to privately consider how to handle the potentially inflammatory information.
The state Division of Criminal Justice sustained the allegation. Barnes disciplined the officer, who was not named and later left. The defense team didn't know about the incident until Coleman contacted them about the letter and pulled all the parties together for a conference call Oct. 25. Williams' lawyers filed a motion in December demanding more information.
During a court hearing in December, Hayden accused the prosecution of trying to cover up an investigator's racial bias and said they have no way of knowing what impact the comments had on the previous trial. Assistant Prosecutor Bennett Barlyn said the officer was never called as a witness, had no direct knowledge of the case and did not directly handle evidence.
Coleman decided to review the material, then brought the attorneys into his chambers to do the same. Barlyn appealed the ruling in January and a panel of appellate judges will hear the matter Wednesday.
Moving forward, it's still unclear who will be the lead prosecutor in the upcoming trial. Former First Assistant Prosecutor Steven Lember, who handled the first trial, resigned in July, citing differences in the philosophy of the office.
Former Assistant Prosecutor Katharine Errickson, who was second chair, was prepared to take it over. It was Errickson who met with Adams at the diner and explained the potential deal that prompted Adams to seek a meeting with Barnes.
"He (Barnes) asked me how I would feel about a plea bargain and I told him absolutely not," she said. "He agreed to do whatever I wanted. When I said I wanted them to fight to get him convicted, that's what they said they were going to do."
http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/nj/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1210565135271620.xml&coll=2&thispage=1