N.J. Attorney General takes over handling of Jayson Williams case
The New Jersey Attorney General's office will take over the manslaughter prosecution of former NBA star Jayson Williams. An office spokesman said yesterday that it would replace the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office for Williams' retrial on a reckless manslaughter count stemming from the shooting of a hired driver in 2002.
Last week, current and former employees of the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office testified in a special hearing to determine whether the case has been tainted by racial bias. The hearing was prompted by the disclosure 2 years ago that a county investigator used a racial slur to describe Williams.
Williams was convicted of covering up the shooting but the jury deadlocked on a reckless manslaughter count.
In other NBA news:
* Homeowners and businesses resisting the forced sales of their properties for a massive development in Brooklyn have told New York's top court it's unconstitutional for a state agency to order them out. In oral arguments at the Court of Appeals, a lawyer for owners and tenants said Bruce Ratner's proposed $4.9 billion, 22-acre Atlantic Yards project mainly enriches private interests. Ratner is the New Jersey Nets' principal owner and wants to build a new arena for the team.
* Bobcats coach Larry Brown became the first major target in the NBA's zero-tolerance policy toward criticizing its replacement referees. He was hit with $60,000 in fines and the Charlotte organization was fined another $60,000 after Brown's ejection from an exhibition game. Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins was also fined $25,000 for criticism after a game Monday, as the league attempts to protect its inexperienced officials while it locks out its regular referees in a labor dispute. Official Kevin Scott, who has worked in college and pro-am leagues, whistled Brown for two technical fouls at different times in Monday's game in Atlanta. After the second technical, with 3:23 left in the third quarter, Brown lingered on the court instead of heading to the locker room. Scott called for security, but Brown then left on his own.
College Basketball
* Duquesne University sophomore guard B.J. Monteiro will be reinstated to the team now that criminal charges of larceny and conspiracy in his native Connecticut have been dropped.
Tennis
* Czech player Ivo Minar was banned for 8 months after testing positive for a banned substance following a Davis Cup match.
Olympics
* Patrick Sandusky, the spokesman for Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics, has been selected as the acting communications chief for the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Sport Stops
* Next year's Tour de France will start with a 5-mile prologue on July 3 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and end with a final stage on the Champs-Elysees that will wrap up a 2,234-mile ride.
* Past major marathon champions Robert Cheruiyot and Salina Kosgei, of Kenya, will run next month's New York City Marathon. The 31-year-old Cheruiyot has won the Boston Marathon four times, including three straight from 2006-08. The 32-year-old Kosgei won the women's title in Boston in April.
* American Rebecca Bross had the best score in qualifying at the world gymnastics championships in London. Bross finished with 57.4 points, one-tenth ahead of Romania's Ana Porgras. * Veterans Eric Bernotas and Noelle Pikus-Pace were the leaders after the first day of the the U.S. skeleton national team trials in Lake Placid, N.Y. * U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro retired because of right wrist tendinitis while trailing Jurgen Melzer, 7-5, 2-1, at the Shanghai Masters.
* Legendary coach John Wooden, who won a record 10 national championships at UCLA, turned 99 yesterday in Los Angeles. Wooden, whose wife Nell died in 1985, is looked after by his daughter, son, several grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
