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NEW ORLEANS -- The man who fatally shot retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith insisted Saturday that he did so only after a drunken, irate Smith retrieved a gun from his damaged SUV following an April 9 car crash.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 didnt shoot Smiths 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 Smiths 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 didnt 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 Im going to get mine and Ill 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 ONeal, 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 Smiths hand that night. Police say a loaded gun was found in Smiths 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 Smiths 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 mornings 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 Smiths former teammate Pierre Thomas were among prosecution witnesses who said Smiths anger seemed to have cooled before the gunfire. But Hayes passenger in the Hummer insisted that Smith and others with him were the aggressors. .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. I know its common knowledge that all players are responsible for their sticks. We witnessed that when Zack Kassian hit Edmontons Sam Gagner in the face after a missed check. . Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. . Hey!" The lower tier of the School End of Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea choral section in this particular part of South Africa Road London, W12. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings are preparing to be without running back Adrian Peterson for some time after he had surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his right knee Thursday.Asked Thursday if it was likely Peterson would miss months, not weeks, after his surgery in the Twin Cities, coach Mike Zimmer said, I would assume so.In a statement after Petersons surgery Thursday, the team said there were no additional injuries or issues noted in or surrounding the knee joint during the surgical procedure.On Wednesday, a source told ESPN that Peterson also had a torn lateral collateral ligament. The Vikings had denied that, and Peterson texted ESPNs Josina Anderson, no torn LCL.Peterson, who tore his meniscus when Green Bay Packers linebacker Kyler Fackrell tackled him in the third quarter of the Vikings win Sunday night, had surgery to repair his meniscus, rather than an operation to trim the torn cartilage, which might have brought him back in a matter of weeks. The rehab process for a repaired meniscus often takes three to four months, meaning Peterson could miss most, iif not all, of the 14 games the Vikings have left in the regular season.ddddddddddddThe team has not yet made a move to put Peterson on injured reserve. Jerick McKinnon will be the starting running back, and Matt Asiata will serve as the backup against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The running backs combined for 1,108 rushing yards in 2014 while Peterson missed 15 games because of NFL discipline.The Vikings, who put left tackle Matt Kalil on injured reserve with a hip injury Wednesday and lost Peterson this week, also will be without defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd on Sunday. Floyd, the No. 23 pick in the 2013 draft, has struggled with knee injuries during his four NFL seasons, and Zimmer said Thursday that Floyd had surgery to clean up cartilage in his right knee.Floyd, who didnt play Sunday against the Packers, also had surgery to remove cartilage from his left knee last November, meaning he has had procedures on both knees within the last 12 months. ' ' '
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