Williams Charged with Manslaughter

Iver Peterson and Al Baker report in the New York Times that former Nets start Jayson Williams has turned himself in to police who charged him with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a limousine driver at Williams's Hunterdon County estate nearly two weeks ago.

Williams, who has been charged with illegal gunplay before, was released on $250,000 bail. He received the lesser of two criminal charges available to prosecutors in a manslaughter case: recklessness rather than aggravated recklessness. The charge calls for a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison.

Acting prosecutor Steven Lember indicated it was deciding which charge to make that caused a 12 day delay in filing charges. At the time, one person present suggested to police the death was a suicide, so there is a possibility of a charge of obstructing justice being laid.

The Times article details the case, and also provides information saying that -- had the previous firearms charge been prosecuted -- Williams would not have had a gun.

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General Basketball, New Jersey Nets

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NBA: The Mailman a Net? No Chance

Among the scores of ridiculous trade rumors that were floated this past week, one makes Olympic figure skating judging seem logical. Karl Malone to New Jersey. Seriously. A Malone-to-the-Nets story actually surfaced as Thursday's deadline approached. Supposedly, the Jazz would have received ex-University of Utah star Keith Van Horn and other players whose salaries would make the deal comply with league rules. Malone earns $17.5 million this season. Van Horn makes $10.9 million. So the Nets would have had to include one or more other players whose salaries total about $8.5 million. Jason Kidd ($8.4 million) or Kerry Kittles ($8.1 million) would have done it. So would a deal including Van Horn and most of the Nets' extremely short bench: Aaron Williams ($2.5 million), Lucious Harris ($2.4 million), Richard Jefferson ($1.4 million) and Jason Collins ($1.1 million). Of course, there were problems with such a deal. Most significantly, Malone has a no-trade clause in his contract, and agreeing to a deal with New Jersey would have meant working for GM Rod Thorn and coach Byron Scott. One of his new teammates would have been Kenyon Martin. For years, Thorn was the NBA's chief disciplinarian and handed down several fines and/or suspensions that Malone considered unfair and personally motivated. Strike one. Early this season, Scott got into a verbal war with Malone after the Nets beat the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Scott questioned Malone's heart and ability to produce at the critical moments. Malone suggested Scott road the "coattails" of others throughout his career and into his job as an NBA coach. Strike two. Just before Christmas on the Jazz-Nets rematch, Martin caught Malone from behind and clotheslined him during the final seconds of a Utah victory at the Meadowlands. Martin was fined and suspended for the takedown, which was as dirty a play as you will ever see. Strike three.

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Utah Jazz, New Jersey Nets

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Questions Still Unanswered

Amy Westfeldt of the Associated Press reports that it's a week since limosine driver Costas Christofi was shot at Jayson Williams estate, and there's still no indication of who pulled the trigger.

At present the death is officially listed as a homicide, the legal term for a killing that does not indicate whether it was intentional or accidental.

At Christofi's funeral service Wednesday, a clergyman eulogized him as a man who turned his life around and questioned why the death remains unexplained. "A spirit of repentance is the most important quality for any Christian to have," the Rev. John Theodosion told mourners. Christofi, a convicted burglar, had overcome a drug addiction.

Robert Kise, the limousine dispatcher who sent Christofi to the job with Williams, also questioned why so little is known about the incident. "We know for a fact there was a lot of people in the room. It's a week later. If you have a lot of people in the room and someone was dead, someone should have pulled the trigger and it should not be a secret by this time."

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