NEW ORLEANS -- Lawyers are appealing a 25-year sentence for the man convicted of killing retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith.
Cardell Hayes' attorneys say the trial judge should have granted a new trial because a witness reached the day after Hayes' conviction said he'd heard two guns at the time of the shooting. That would buttress Hayes' claim of self-defense.
The appeal filed Thursday also contends that Judge Camille Buras should have allowed testimony about Smith's 2010 arrest on a charge of domestic abuse. They say that would have shown he could be violent when drunk.