Appeals court to consider slur in Jayson Williams case

By Associated Press

8:49 AM EDT, May 14, 2008

HACKENSACK, N.J. - The manslaughter case against former New Jersey Nets star Jayson Williams returns to court.

Attorneys for Williams are scheduled to argue in front of a three-judge panel on Wednesday that prosecutors must divulge all details about a racial slur used by an investigator in the case.

The dispute over the slur postponed Williams' retrial for reckless manslaughter, which was to have begun in January.

The 40-year-old Williams was convicted in 2004 of trying to cover up the shooting death of hired driver Costas Christofi two years earlier. The jury acquitted him of aggravated manslaughter but deadlocked on the reckless manslaughter count.

Williams has been free on bail since the shooting.