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. Mike Green Jersey .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. Luke Glendening Red Wings Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Brendan Shanahan Red Wings Jersey . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. http://www.redwingshockeypro.com/authentic-curtis-joseph-red-wings-jersey/ . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season.Congratulations to the following officials that have been selected by the National Hockey League to work the 2012-13 Stanley Cup Final series between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins: Referees: Wes McCauley, Dan OHalloran , Chris Rooney, Brad Watson Linesmen: Shane Heyer, Brian Murphy, Pierre Racicot, Jay Sharrers The majority of players from both teams and the game officials are no strangers to the excitement and pressures that surround a Cup Final. They have been there before and know what it takes to succeed. One notable exception is referee Wes McCauley, who will appear in the Final for the first time. Inclusion as a member of the Final Four referees and linesmen is a huge accomplishment. Being selected is certainly the pinnacle of every officials career and a signal to the hockey world that they are regarded as the best of the best. Referee McCauley has had a terrific playoff run by my ratings and certainly deserves his place at the top. His uncanny feel for the game (almost a lost art) allowed for the expected playoff intensity to flourish in each game he called. Most importantly, McCauley demonstrated the courage and good judgment to make the tough call at any point in the game regardless of the score or time. He did not put his whistle away! Wes McCauley is about to enter uncharted waters. The stakes are higher and the focus of the hockey world intensifies in this final round. I remember it well. No one gets to this level of proficiency without the assistance of coworkers and mentors. The night prior to my first Stanley Cup Final game, I had the good fortune of dining with the best mentor I could have hoped for. John McCauley, then Director of Officiating (Wes McCauleys father) prepared me for what to expect and instilled in me the confidence I needed to succeed. John McCauley had been a well respected referee in the NHL until his career was cut short from a sucker-punch in the eye by a drunken hockey fan from Kapuskaing, Ontario. The blow was delivered after the Soviet National Team had trounced a collection of NHL All-Stars in the third and final game of the 1979 Challenge Cup at Madison Square Garden. The Master (as John was affectionately called) was a very good communicator, was blessed with a very quick wit and terrific judgment that served him well as both a referee and following his eye injury as Director of Officiating. One time in the Boston Garden, Wayne Cashman was upset at one of McCauleys calls and told the Master he was going to shoot a puck at the refs head. John didnt bat an eye and told Cashman if that was the case he would just skate over and stand in the opponents net. From that location he wouuld be safest guy in the building if Cash was aiming for him! It was a hot and sunny afternoon in May, 1985, when I arrived in Philadelphia prior to Game 2 of the Cup Final between the Flyers and the Edmonton Oilers. Riley Sheahan Jersey. It was just my third season to have participated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and a selection to the Final could have very easily overwhelmed me. I checked into the Hershey Hotel on Broad Street that was designated as the NHL headquarters and media hotel. The lobby was bustling with activity and swarming with members of the media; the likes of which I had never experienced. As I looked for an escape route from the lobby mob scene I was approached by my boss, John McCauley, who invited me to join him for an early dinner. Looking back on it now I believe it wasnt just by chance, but more by design, that I bumped into the Master and was invited to dinner. John wanted to make sure that I got off on the right foot by preparing me for this new experience. He truly cared about his staff; each and every one of us and was the kind of boss you would go through the wall for. After we ordered dinner, John asked me how I was feeling. I confessed to being a little nervous (understatement) but was excited about the opportunity he had given me. What John McCauley shared with me in that moment is what he would also tell his eldest son Wes if John had not passed away at just 45 years of age following the 1989 Stanley Cup Final. I now pass along the Masters words of wisdom from that conversation to Wes McCauley as he too prepares for his first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. "You earned the right to be here (selection to Stanley Cup Final) based on your work throughout these playoffs. I assigned you to some very tough games and you passed the test with flying colors. You have proven to me that I can put you in any situation and you will neither disappoint nor let me down. Your work made the games better. I have the utmost confidence in your ability. That confidence is being rewarded with your first selection to the Stanley Cup Final. While I know there will be many more Cup Finals in your future, take this one game at a time. Prepare yourself and officiate no differently than you have in all the other games I have assigned you to. Enjoy the moment and have fun with it. I trust in your ability and most of all I believe in you!" I have no doubt that referee Wes McCauley will do a great job in his first trip to the Stanley Cup Final. If he listens closely in his heart, I would also bet that he will hear his father whisper the same words of wisdom and vote of confidence that the Master offered me. 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