New Orleans Criminal Court Judge Camille Buras today postponed the manslaughter retrial of Cardell Hayes in the 2016 shooting death of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith.
Hayes will reportedly plead guilty as charged Wednesday, according to our partners at WWL-TV and NOLA.com.
Hayes shot and killed Smith after a car wreck on Magazine St. on April 9, 2016. Smith's vehicle had collided with Hayes' that evening, and minutes later, Hayes' vehicle smashes into Smith's, and the two got into an argument. It ended with Hayes shooting Smith multiple times.
A 10-2 jury decision in December 2016 found Hayes guilty of manslaughter, opting not to convict him of second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. The jury also convicted Hayes of attempted manslaughter because one of the shots he fired wounded Smith's wife.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that non-unanimous jury verdicts were unconstitutional, Hayes' conviction was vacated. But the pandemic, then Hurricane Ida, and other factors, continually delayed the new trial.