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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.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. Custom Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. Custom Paris Saint-Germain Jerseys . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/custom-toronto-raptors-jerseys/ . 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- The head of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics says the worlds top four male golfers have withdrawn from the Games because there is no money to be won -- not because of the Zika virus.They tried to blame Zika, but the media have shown that they are not coming because theres no prize money, Rio organizing committee President Carlos Nuzman said Saturday, speaking with the Games set to open in just under three weeks.Jordan Spieth was the last of the top four to withdraw from the Olympics, citing health concerns and other matter he said were personal. Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy said Zika was the main reason for skipping the first Olympic golf tournament in 112 years.Their absence could be a setback for golfs future in the Olympics. IOC President Thomas Bach has said that golfs future may rest on its ability to get top players to show up.Golf is guaranteed a spot in the Tokyo Olympics in four years, but could be vulnerable after that.Zika is much worse in Florida than in Brazil, and golfers are playing in Florida, Nuzman said.Male golfers have also cited security worries, and some have complained that Olympic golf has been wedged into an already crowded tour schedule.Rio has myriad Olympic problems: Zika, securrity concerns, severe water pollution and sluggish ticket sales.ddddddddddddRio Mayor Eduardo Paes warned in the wake of the attack Thursday in Nice, France, that fans in Rio could face more checks, more roadblocks and more delays.Probably the security forces are going to demand more blockades, more inconvenient things, Paes said.Nuzman, speaking at a debate sponsored by a local magazine, seemed to be bracing for small crowds at some Olympic venues. Organizers say about 70 percent of tickets have been sold.I dont think we need too much public, he said, adding that smaller venues could save money.Television does an extraordinary job, with cameras everywhere, he added. Nobody can walk a step without a camera filming it.Nuzman also said he expected Rios suspended drug-testing lab to be ready when the games open Aug. 5. He expected the World Anti-Doping Agency to give its approval in a few days.The suspension has been an embarrassment for local organizers and a headache for the International Olympic Committee, which could be forced to send blood and urine samples abroad for testing if the lab remains closed. ' ' '