Former NBA star Jayson Williams' trial on aggravated manslaughter charges has been put on hold by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear an appeal by Williams' attorneys as to whether the Prosecution violated Williams constitutional rights before the grand jury.

Williams' attorneys, Joseph Hayden Jr. and William Martin, had argued to [trial judge] Coleman that [prosecutor] Lember violated Fifth Amendment and other constitutional protections by repeatedly referring to their client's decision not to speak with police and to his statements that he would remain silent until he consulted with a lawyer. Lember discussed Williams' silence at least five and possibly six times, directly or through law enforcement witnesses. Hayden and Martin filed their appellate brief on Jan. 9, saying the case "involves a novel issue never decided by the Appellate Division or the New Jersey Supreme Court: whether an indictment should stand where a prosecutor repeatedly brings to the grand jurors' attention the fact that the defendant consulted counsel and declined to be interviewed, thereby prejudicing the defendant ... by inflaming its members."