Former New Jersey Nets star Jayson Williams remains free on bail.
A New jersey judge rejected a prosecutor’s request to revoke Williams’ bail and send him to prison for allegedly covering up the shooting of a limo driver more than seven years ago.
But State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman noted that Williams hasn’t been convicted of anything since his 2004 trial and continues to show up to court as required.
“It doesn’t make sense to me, frankly, to move ahead with the sentencing,” Coleman said. He also denied prosecutors’ request to increase bail from the original $250,000.
Williams’ attorney Joseph Hayden said his client didn’t start the bar fight, didn’t hurt anyone at the hotel, and is not a threat to the public.
“He was not the aggressor and actually defended himself,” Hayden said of the bar fight.
The prosecution argued Williams, 41, no longer lives in New Jersey and is going through a divorce in which his estranged wife has claimed he’s violent.
Prosecutors pointed to a suicide note that was left at a Battery Park hotel room in April and bar fight in North Carolina as examples of Williams’ ongoing problems.
Outside court, Williams refused to comment on the case.
The former NBA All-Star has been free on bail since the 2002 killing of driver Gus Christofi. His sentencing has been delayed pending a retrial on a reckless manslaughter count.
With AP Wires