toward the glove box.What was I supposed to do? Hay

NEW ORLEANS -- One car rear-ends another on a Saturday night. People argue. It escalates.Ten or so gunshots later, one driver is dead and the other waits nervously to give his side of the story to police.Conflicts settled by gunfire are tragically common in New Orleans but there was nothing routine about this one: the dead man was retired football player Will Smith, a star on the 2006 Saints team that help lift the stricken citys spirits with a winning season after Hurricane Katrina, and on the team that won the franchises only Super Bowl three seasons later.The accused is a 29-year-old former semiprofessional football player named Cardell Hayes. The owner of a tow-truck company and the father of a 5-year-old son, Hayes is described by friends as soft-spoken, even-tempered -- hardly the type to erupt into a lethal road rage. His attorney has been laying the groundwork for a self-defense argument ahead of a trial that opens Monday, but he may face an added burden in Smiths local popularity and national renown.Will Smith obviously was a beloved member of the New Orleans community, Loyola University law professor Dane Ciolino said in a recent interview. And thats going to make the defense of this case all the more difficult.Smiths shooting death is strangely similar to that of Joe McKnight, another former NFL player who was shot and killed just last Thursday in a New Orleans suburb after a road rage incident on a nearby bridge spiraled out of control. The man authorities identified as the shooter in that case -- Ronald Gasser -- has been released from custody with no charges as the investigation continues.Hayes has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Smiths death. Conviction carries a mandatory life sentence. Hes also charged with attempted second-degree murder in the wounding of Smiths wife, who was shot in the legs. Hes been jailed since the April shooting, unable to make the $1.75 million bond.Snippets of surveillance video from near the scene, police statements plus testimony from pre-trial hearings paint this picture of what happened on April 9:Smith, his wife and two friends left a restaurant in New Orleans Lower Garden District and were heading downtown on Magazine Street. At one point Smiths SUV appeared to bump the rear of a Hummer that had come to a stop on the street.Rather than stop, Smith swerved his SUV around the Hummer and continued downtown. Moments later, the Hummer hit Smiths SUV from behind, shattering the rear window and pushing it into the rear of another car -- in which more friends of Smith were riding.Who the aggressors were in the ensuing conflict will be at issue in the trial. Hayes acknowledged to at least one police officer that he was armed when he got out of his vehicle. He said he was accosted by an unarmed Smith and others, and that Smith struck him, although police said there were no obvious signs of injury.The first officer to approach the scene after the crash was an off-duty rookie who had been at a nearby bar. Christopher McGaw has testified that he approached the scene as the argument grew more heated, ducked for cover when gunshots rang out, then approached again, finding Smith slumped across the front seat of his car, one hand extended toward the glove box.What was I supposed to do? Hayes is heard asking McGaw, on a recording of a 911 call McGaw had placed at the scene.Why Smith drove away from the scene of the first, apparently minor accident; whether Hayes intentionally rammed Smiths vehicle moments later; whether Smith was reaching for a gun when he was shot to death -- all are issues that will likely be addressed at trial.On the side of the defense is a toxicology report showing that Smith was legally drunk at the time of his death. Other factors Ciolino cited: The fact that Will Smith was, by some reports, so loud and belligerent; the fact that the forensic evidence, arguably could support that Will Smith was reaching for a gun.Smith had returned to his SUV when he was shot and police said there was a loaded gun in the vehicle. That might help the defense argument that Hayes shot in self-defense, Ciolino said. But its an argument that could be blunted by the fact that Smith was shot eight times -- seven in the back, one in the side -- Ciolino added.Prosecutors also have made much of the fact that Hayess Hummer had hit Smiths SUV from behind so hard that the rear window shattered.Another odd twist in the case: A friend of Smiths who wound up at the scene the night of the shooting is William Ceravolo, a retired New Orleans police officer who had dined with the Smiths before the accident. Ceravolo was among six officers sued by Hayes after police killed his father, Anthony Hayes, in December 2005. Police settled the lawsuit in 2011, and terms were confidential. Cheap Nike Shoes From China . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. 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Guenther Steiner says the starts were aligned for Haas after both Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez made it into Q3 during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.The American outfit made it through to the final part of qualifying with both cars for the first time, having only made two previous Q3 appearances so far in its debut season at Melbourne and Monza. Grosjean will line up eighth for Sundays race, while Gutierrez rounded out the top 10. Steiner admitted the result was a pleasant surprise.Our dreams came true, the Haas team principal said. It was a good session, we are very happy with it obviously, I couldnt say any different. FP3 we knew that if we could get the lap together we would be pretty good, but we didnt think we would get two cars into Q3, that was a too ambitious thought you know. But it all happened.We used the new front wing that we brought to Singapore, we used it the first time here what I call properly, with testing, because we had all these issues and if you start the weekend on FP1 and they have mechanical issues, you dont have time to evaluate the data.It was the first time we could use it and understand it and I think that is one of the main things. Im sure our car for this type of track, is also better suited than other tracks, on slower ones. Everything came together, the sstars were aligned.ddddddddddddAfter recording points finishes in three of the first four races of 2016, Haas has only managed points on one occasion since, at the Austrian Grand Prix in July. The team has struggled in recent races, most notably in Singapore -- where Romain Grosjean was particularly critical over team radio -- and with a double retirement in Malaysia.Steiner says Haas performance in Suzuka can act as encouragement after a difficult run, and hopes the team can capitalise on the opportunity to take a big points haul away from Japan.You are always chasing yourself, if you have testing sessions you test it out then but its also a thing of growing a team. If you had one problem like we had, or a few problems like in Singapore and Malaysia and in FP1 and FP2, you have no time to do this you are just happy to have a decent understanding of the tyres and of your base setup.Its a learning curve but I think we have a better understanding now. Do we have full understanding? Maybe not but you always learn. I hope we can take the opportunity, its there. Ill tell you tomorrow night at this time if we took it or not. We are in a good position so lets see what comes tomorrow. ' ' '