911 Call Is Key at Murder Trial

The attorneys for former NBA player Jayson Williams have filed a motion to prevent the introduction of a 911 logging tape into evidence in a New Jersey murder trial. Williams is being re-tried in the death of a limo driver in 2004, and Williams’ brother dialed 911 and spoke to a dispatcher for about 20 minutes. Taking into account a recent Supreme Court decision, defense attorneys say the conversation is testimonial rather than related to the reporting of the emergency, and should not be admitted in place of the brother’s in-court testimony. The prosecution says the opposite, that the changing nature of the incident never moved the 911 conversation to “testimony.” Read more about the positions here.