Hayes denied reduced bond as Sept. 20 trial set

6:54 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS — The trial of Will Smith’s shooter, Cardell Hayes, was scheduled for a September 20 start date Friday after a judge denied a motion to reduce Hayes’ $1.75 million bond.

Friday’s hearing provided a sneak peek into the prosecution’s case against Hayes, including testimony from three police officers, an audio clip of Hayes speaking with an off-duty officer who was first on the scene and a video clip of Hayes’ first brief discussion with homicide detectives.

Hayes has been charged with the second-degree murder of the former New Orleans Saints defensive end and the attempted murder of his wife, Racquel Smith. Will Smith was shot eight times — seven in the back — and Racquel was shot twice in the legs after a heated argument following a pair of traffic incidents on the night of April 9.

Hayes acknowledged to officers that he was holding his gun when he exited his vehicle. And Hayes made no mention of seeing a gun in Smith’s possession in either of his recorded conversations.

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However, Hayes told the homicide detectives that he was active in self-defense, claiming that he was surrounded by three or four people and that Smith hit him three times before Smith threatened to retrieve a gun from his own vehicle, with a woman trying to hold Smith back.

“What was I supposed to do?” Hayes could be heard saying to the off-duty police officer on a recorded 911 call.

Later, Hayes told homicide detectives, “I can’t have my life taken away from me for nothing” and said of Smith and others in his party, “I don’t know what they were on or what they were drinking.”

Hayes’ lead attorney, John Fuller, said he was not surprised by any of the testimony or the rulings of Judge Camille Buras, who also denied the defense’s motions to suppress Hayes’ statements to police.

Fuller acknowledged his client’s claim of self-defense in open court for the first time Friday, though he has hinted at that strategy all along by insisting that Hayes was not the aggressor on the night of the shooting.

When asked if the fact that Hayes was carrying his gun when he exited his vehicle hurts that claim, Fuller said, “Not if …

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