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Ex-Net Jayson Williams will walk for the time being, even though he killed a man. Welcome to the lifestyles of the rich and lawyer-equipped.
Despite being found guilty on four lesser charges, Williams was found not guilty in three out of four of the greater charges. So, what began as a maximum sentence of 55 years, if found guilty on all counts, ends for the time being with Jayson Williams home with his wife and kids.
Consequently, this verdict places Jayson Williams in the same company of other famous athletes, who have essentially escaped the legal hammer from coming down on them. O.J. Simpson was able to do it. Five years later in 2000, Ray Lewis' plea bargain verdict allowed him to escape the fire as well. And now, whatever should happen with the impending sentence of Jayson Williams, he has already come out a winner, but is the verdict fair?
Point blank - Jayson Williams killed a man. We all know the infamous story of what happened that night, on what many forget was Valentine's Day 2002. We all know the grim details of him joking and laughing, then going into his cabinet and pulling out his shotgun. From there, he approached his limo driver, Costas "Gus" Christofi in the middle of his New Jersey mansion, recited profanity-filled lines from a classic movie and then the shotgun went off, killing Christofi.
The murder set off an impending trial, and sad to say but Williams, like O.J. Simpson and Lewis, surrounded himself with the best lawyers money could buy, and it paid off.
One of Williams' lawyers, Billy Martin, has represented NBA players Allen Iverson, Juwan Howard and Rod Strickland in the past. He even represented former boxing champ Riddick Bowe. So, needless to say, Martin's high-profile experience in dealing with athletes was key in Williams being found not guilty on the greater charges.
In addition, Martin along with the other lawyers on Williams' legal team really got into the minds of the jury, to the point where, when the verdict came in on Friday afternoon, juror Angela Pravata said, "I never looked over there and saw a cold-blooded killer." Fellow juror Ann Stengel also commented, "Jayson Williams is not a criminal. Was he negligent? Yes. Should he have known better? Yes."
And if the world were a just place he would be in jail right now. However, as we all know, it's not. Unfortunately, in many aspects of life, money talks, and to a large effect, money has helped Williams get off for now.
Despite what the juror Ms. Pravata said, Jayson Williams may not look like a cold-blooded killer, but he killed a man. It may have been accidental and it was definitely negligent, but whatever the case may be Williams robbed a man and his family of his life.
Sure, we've seen Jayson Williams providing analysis for the NBA on NBC and we've seen his personality shine through, as he gave a tour of his mansion on MTV Cribs. He's probably a good fun-loving guy, but he killed a man and should be held responsible.
If you can even possibly imagine putting yourself in the shoes of Christofi's family members, just think what in the world must be going on through their heads? They must not have too high of an opinion of the American legal system.
Currently, as it stands, Williams awaits his sentencing. Although he's off on the three greater charges, his four guilty verdicts can send him to a maximum of 13 years in prison. However, legal experts already think Williams will get a sentence of less than five years.
No matter what may lie ahead for Williams, make no mistakes about it - his money spoke volumes for him. More unbelievable is the fact that Williams has the possibility in a couple of years of attempting a complete commercial revitalization. Ray Lewis not only escaped charges, but he led his team to the Super Bowl and then became a spokesman for big time advertisers.
Anything is possible in this world we live in, and even though Americans have a generally high disdain for high-profile people getting into legal situations, people forgive and forget. Hence, time will only tell what becomes of Jayson Williams.
2 comments
The video from the scene:
Jayson Williams-"suicidal"