4 p.m.

The defense has rested in the Will Smith shooting death case.

On trial in New Orleans is Cardell Hayes, charged with second-degree murder in Smith’s April 9 death. Hayes told the jury Saturday he fired only after Smith grabbed a gun from his damaged SUV during a dispute following a traffic accident.

Prosecutors say the evidence doesn’t support Hayes’ contention that Smith was armed. The prosecution rested its case Friday.

Jurors are hearing from a last round of prosecution rebuttal witnesses. They could hear closing arguments and begin deliberations later Saturday.

—

Noon

The man who fatally shot retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith in April has told a jury he did so only after Smith struck him several times and grabbed a gun following a traffic crash.

Prosecutors say Smith was unarmed but Cardell Hayes insisted Saturday that Smith threatened to get a gun from his damaged SUV – and then did so.

Hayes, who is charged with second-degree murder, said an irate and drunken Smith threw a cup of alcohol at him, hit him numerous times and – once he saw that Hayes had a gun – declared that he, too, had a weapon.

A loaded gun was later found in Smith’s car. Prosecutors say it hadn’t been fired.

Hayes said he fired numerous times after seeing a gun in Smith’s hand. The bullets killed Smith and injured his wife, Racquel.

—

11:30 a.m.

The man who shot retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith has taken the witness stand at his second-degree murder trial.

Twenty-nine-year-old Cardell Hayes is expected to make the case Saturday that he killed Smith because he feared for his life following a heated confrontation after an April 9 car crash.

With Smith’s widow, who was shot that in the legs that night, looking on, Hayes began his testimony by recounting his history as a high school, college and semi-pro football player. And he says he admired Smith’s career with the Saints.

11:15 a.m.

A defense attorney for the man who shot retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith has clashed in court with a police detective who insists Smith never posed a threat to the shooter.

Cardell Hayes is charged with second-degree murder in Smith’s April 9 death following a car crash.

Defense lawyer John Fuller on Saturday cited earlier testimony that a man traveling with Smith that night used a racial epithet and threatened to kill somebody in the confrontation with Hayes and Hayes’ passenger after the crash. But the detective, Bruce Brueggeman, said neither Smith nor the man with him, Richard Hernandez, was armed or posed a threat.

Although there was talk of a racial epithet, race has not been cited as a factor in Smith’s death. The victim and shooter were both black. Hernandez is white.

9:50 a.m.

The trial of the man who shot retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith has resumed in New Orleans

Among the spectators Saturday was Saints coach Sean Payton.

The defense began by calling Brian Cain, the latest in a string of witnesses who said defendant Cardell Hayes was in a good mood in the hours before the shooting.

Hayes is charged with second-degree murder in Smith’s April 9 death. The fatal shooting happened after a car crash.

Hayes’ lawyers have said Hayes fired in self-defense, fearing that Smith was about to retrieve a gun from his damaged SUV.

Prosecutors rested their case Friday after nearly a week of hearing from witnesses, including Smith’s widow, Racquel, who was hit in the legs by gunfire that night.

—

8 a.m.

The trial of the man who shot former New Orleans Saints star Will Smith is entering its sixth day.

Cardell Hayes’ lawyers are expected Saturday to continue building a self-defense case. They say an angry, intoxicated Smith intended to retrieve a gun from his SUV after Hayes’ Hummer crashed into it on the night of April 9.

Prosecutors rested their case Friday after nearly a week of hearing from witnesses, including Smith’s widow, Racquel, who was hit in the legs by gunfire that night.

Early prosecution witnesses have said it appeared that Smith’s anger had cooled when Hayes fired. But a friend of Hayes’ who was a passenger in the Hummer insisted that Smith and his friends were the aggressors.

The post The Latest: Defense rests in Will Smith shooting trial appeared first on IdealCapper.

”I knew for a fact that I was going to get shot,” Cardell Hayes, 29, told the jury in his second-degree murder trial, adding that he heard a pop that he believed to be a gunshot before he fired. Hayes also insisted he didn’t shoot Smith’s wife Racquel that night. Prosecutors say ballistics evidence shows otherwise.

Hayes’ defense lawyers rested their case Saturday afternoon, setting the stage for closing arguments and the beginning of jury deliberations Sunday.

On the stand, Hayes vehemently denied intentionally running into Smith’s Mercedes SUV moments after the Mercedes appeared to have bumped Hayes’ car. He said he armed himself only after he and his own passenger were accosted by Smith and Richard Hernandez, a passenger in the SUV. Hernandez, he said, wildly stripped off his shirt and took something shiny from his pocket – Hayes said he feared it was a knife.

Smith didn’t initially notice the gun, Hayes said. He said Smith, 34, threw a cup containing some type of alcohol at him and punched him repeatedly. At some point during the fast-unfolding melee, Hernandez alerted Smith to Hayes’ gun, Hayes said under questioning from defense lawyer John Fuller.

Hayes testified that Smith addressed him with a racial epithet and then told him, ”… you got your gun. Well I’m going to get mine and I’ll show you what to do with it.”

Hayes said Hernandez, a white Hispanic who fled the scene, also used racial epithets.

However, race has not been raised as an alleged factor in the confrontation. Hayes and Kevin O’Neal, his passenger, are black, and so was Smith.

Hayes was calm and soft spoken under questioning from Fuller, his voice catching briefly as he noted that he has been jailed since the shooting, unable to be with his 6-year-old son. He was the only witness to place a gun in Smith’s hand that night. Police say a loaded gun was found in Smith’s SUV. Prosecutors say it was never fired that night and that Smith never grabbed it.

Hayes fired a .45-caliber handgun numerous times. Racquel Smith was hit twice in the legs, and Will Smith once in the side and seven times in the back. Hayes and others have testified that she tried to calm her husband that night. Some prosecution witnesses say she appeared to have done so and that there was no apparent reason for Hayes to fire.

On cross examination, Assistant Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Napoli repeatedly noted that no other witness said Smith had a gun and that Hayes never told investigators he saw a gun in Smith’s hands that night.

”I never gave a full statement to anyone,” Hayes said, growing testy as Napoli asked about inconsistencies in his testimony and past statements.

Prosecutors also called a rebuttal witness – a firearms expert who said there was no evidence Smith had fired a gun when he died.

The first witnesses called Saturday were friends of Hayes who said he was in a good mood and was not drinking at a party before the crash. Among Saturday morning’s spectators was Saints coach Sean Payton. Smith was a defensive leader on the Payton-coached Saints team that won the 2010 Super Bowl.

Prosecutors rested their case Friday after nearly a week of hearing from witnesses, including Racquel Smith.

She and Smith’s former teammate Pierre Thomas were among prosecution witnesses who said Smith’s anger seemed to have cooled before the gunfire. But Hayes’ passenger in the Hummer insisted that Smith and others with him were the aggressors.

The post Defendant in murder trial insists drunken Will Smith had gun appeared first on IdealCapper.