The Blitz 12/6/16

Cardell Hayes Trial for the Murder of Will Smith:

Jury selection took place in New Orleans on Monday in the murder trial of Cardell Hayes for the murder of former New Orleans Saints DE Will Smith.  Voir dire questioning took place all day and was finally completed at 9:42 PM.  The jury composition is 8 women, 4 men. 7 white, 5 black.  Defense attorney @CJMordock (who is not involved with the case) covered much of the voir dire questioning on Twitter and has also projected  what to expect in opening statements and projected lines of questioning:

C.J. Mordock (@CJMordock) via Twitter on what to expect from Prosecution’s opening statement:

“Prosecution will tell a story. Expect them to play heavy on football and Saints imagery. Talk about Will Smith as a family man and husband. They’ll have a big picture of him as a visual. They’ll retrace the timeline of April 9th. Talk about Smith and Racquel’s day at French Quarter Fest, their dinner with Ceravolo and Pierre at Sake Cafe. Then contrast that will the violent end to the evening. They will minimize the alleged hit and run. Say no damage to Hayes’ H2. Hayes then accelerated after Smith ending in him rear ending Smith’s G wagon violently. They will paint Hayes has being angry and violent firing first at Smith, then indiscriminately hitting Racquel in the leg. They’ll state there’s no evidence Hayes called 911. He had no choice but to stay on the scene. And ask for a guilty verdict on all counts. In Louisiana, defense lawyers are given such little discovery that we are hamstrung during opening statements. Now, I know Fuller has done a Full investigation. He still doesn’t know exactly what the prosecution witness will say. Therefore his goal in opening statement are few. He’ll want to humanize Cardell Hayes. Point out his family members that are in the court room. Talk about his football career. He may mention that Hayes’ dad was killed by NOPD, if he thinks he can get away with it. He’ll certainly talk about Will Smith as the aggressor. He’ll mention Smith’s domestic violence arrest. Then I would expect him to dovetail into Racquel Smith. What he expects her to say and what evidence he has that shows why you shouldn’t believe her. He’ll end discussing NOPD and how the investigation was poor and what they failed ro do that might cause people to view case differently. We’ll definitely get some testimony tomorrow. State will call a close relative of Will Smith as the first witness, not Racquel as her cross [examination] will be brutal. But someone who can humanize Will Smith and talk about the loss and how it has affected his family. Generate sympathy. Most of their testimony won’t be relevant. Fuller will stand up on cross and say “I am sorry for your loss.”‘and sit down. I’d expect the next witness to be an NOPD first responder. They’ll want to establish that a crime occurred. Identify injuries etc. Then the state will want to play some 911 calls. They’ll call the custodian of records and use the biz records exception to the hearsay rule to get the incident recall, a sheet of paper showing time of call, date of call, phone number called from and the calls themselves. The state will want to end the first day’s testimony at that point. We’ll see if Judge Buras pushes them beyond that.”

And for background on the case and more of what may be expected, be sure to read this SI article by Michael McCann

Mike Pennel Hearing Update:

Seantrel Henderson Suspension:

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in Sports:

MLB: Jeurys Familia


NBA: Derrick Rose

Concussion Discussion:

NBA: Matt Barnes Sought by NYPD Regarding Assault at NYC Nightclub

Seventh Circuit Rules that Student Athletes are Not Employees

UFC & MMA:


This & That:

Permanent link to this article: https://advocacyforfairnessinsports.org/2016/12/06/the-blitz-12616/