NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana appellate court was set Wednesday to hear the case of Cardell Hayes, convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith.
Hayes insisted he shot Smith in self-defense after Smith grabbed a gun and fired as the two argued following a 2016 traffic collision. No one else testified Smith held a gun. A semiautomatic handgun was found loaded but unused in Smith’s car.
Hayes is serving a 25-year sentence.
An immediate ruling was not expected following the afternoon hearing before Louisiana’s 4th Circuit Court of Appeal.
Hayes’s attorneys say a judge should have granted a new trial because a witness who contacted the defense a day after Hayes’ conviction said he had heard two guns at the time of the shooting.
The appeal filed in February by attorney Paul Barker also contends the trial judge, Camille Buras, should have allowed testimony about Smith’s 2010 arrest on a domestic abuse charge. Smith was arrested outside a southwest Louisiana bar in 2011 on misdemeanor charges of domestic abuse battery and public intoxication. Lafayette Parish prosecutors dropped the charges in 2012 after Smith completed community service and participated in counseling.
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro issued a statement after the appeal was filed saying Hayes’s guilt was proven beyond a reasonable doubt and that Buras managed the trial well.
Smith, a 34-year-old father of three, was a defensive leader on the Saints team that lifted spirits in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. He helped carry the team to a winning season in 2006 and a Super Bowl victory four years later.
Hayes was 29 when he was convicted in December 2016. He owned a tow-truck business, had played semi-pro football and is the father of a young son.
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