Grand jury indicts Cardell Hayes in death of Will Smith
2nd May 2016 · 0 Comments
A grand jury on Thursday indicted Cardell Hayes, 28, for the slaying of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith, who was fatally shot on April 9 during a visit to New Orleans to attend the French Quarter Festival.
In the weeks since the shooting, many questions have surfaced about the incident including why a former NOPD and current reserve officer linked to the fatal shooting of Cardell Hayes’ father 10 years ago was at the scene of the crime; why the cops initially only found one gun at the scene of the shooting but later found two other weapons; and what prompted a traffic dispute between Smith and Hayes to take a violent and deadly turn.
There was also a bit of mystery, confusion and intrigue as witnesses reportedly gave conflicting accounts of what transpired and an attorney for Hayes saying that one witnessed feared for her safety and was reluctant to share what she knew with authorities.
On Thursday afternoon, April 28, Cardell Hayes was indicted for attempted second-degree murder, second-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated criminal damage.
FOX 8 News reported that in an unusual turn of events, the indictment was handed up at the same time a preliminary hearing was taking place before a magistrate judge at New Orleans Criminal Court.
The preliminary hearing would have provided Hayes’ defense team with its first look at some of the evidence and likely an opportunity to cross-examine NOPD homicide detective Bruce Brueggeman, the lead investigator on the case.
During Thursday’s brief hearing, an NOPD officer and EMS worker were called to the stand to give their account of what they witnessed on the scene of the incident, where Will Smith’s wife, Racquel, was shot twice in her legs.
The hearing ended prematurely, however, when the grand jury indicted Hayes on the four previously mentioned charges.
Hayes pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and a judge set his bail at $1.75 million — $750,000 higher than his previous bond.
Last Thursday saw a whirlwind of events with prosecutors expeditiously seeking a grand jury vote as Hayes’ defense team sought to gather information from witnesses in a separate hearing to free Hayes. The drama also included an altercation outside the courtroom that resulted in two women being placed in handcuffs and the grand-jury hearing being moved to another judge’s courtroom.
At one point during Thursday’s hearing, Hayes, who has been jailed since the April 9 incident, blew kisses at his loved ones and supporters. While it is not known whether he intends to post bail, his defense team has filed a request for a bond-reduction hearing.
Peter Thomson, an attorney representing the Smith family, said his clients were “pleased” with the grand-jury indictment.
“Although nothing can ease the pain this family is feeling, today was a step toward ensuring this cold-blooded murderer is held responsible for the actions that took the life of their husband, father and friend,” Thomson said.
John Fuller, lead counsel for Hayes’ defense team, told Nola.com/The Times-Picayune, “I’m disappointed, but I’m not surprised.
“A person is indicted 19 days after they are arrested, before a final police report is ready, before before a coroner’s report is ready. But unfortunately, the fact that this District Attorney’s Office did this doesn’t surprise me at all.”
Since Hayes’ arrest, the defense team has questioned the NOPD’s collection of evidence — particularly an initial report that said authorities found one gun at the scene but later reported that three weapons were found — and the presence of retired NOPD Capt. Billy Ceravalo, who was linked to the fatal shooting death of Cardell Hayes’ father in New Orleans in 2006 which led to a settlement with the City of New Orleans.
During the probable cause hearing Thursday, a private investigator named David Olasky who was hired by the defense team said that a witness told him that she saw Ceravolo remove a gun from Will Smith’s vehicle on the night of the shooting.
Just after Olasky talked about the witness who said she saw Ceravolo remove the gun, a lawyer entered the courtroom to share news of the grand-jury indictment, effectively ending the hearing for which the defense team had subpoenaed 24 witnesses.
Fuller said the female witness wasn’t subpoenaed because she was afraid for her safety.
“I’ve talked to the woman myself,” Fuller told Nola.com. “She had no reason to lie. She came forward.”
Although Ceravolo was among the 24 witnesses subpoenaed by the defense, he did not get to testify before the probable cause hearing was abruptly ended with news of the grand-jury decision.
Fuller said he has represented thousands of people and participated in hundreds of preliminary hearings but Thursday’s interrupted hearing was “the only one where someone was indicted in the middle of a preliminary hearing.”
There were a number of heated exchanges and accusations between prosecutors and the defense, with Fuller accusing prosecutors of bringing Cardell Hayes into the District Attorney’s Office without informing Hayes’ defense counsel.
“That’s definitely ethically questionable, at least,” Fuller told Magistrate Harry Cantrell during the probable cause hearing.
Two weeks ago, the defense team asked the FBI and/or the Louisiana State Police to take over the investigation of the incident, citing concerns about the NOPD and its collection of evidence.
NOPD Supt. Michael Harrison responded by assuring the public that the department would conduct the investigation of the incident by the book.
Just days after Fuller’s request and talk of “possible untoward activity” being carried out by NOPD officers, department officials announced that Ceravalo, now a reserve captain, had been removed from duty.
This article originally published in the May 2, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
