Attorneys representing New Jersey Storm owner Jayson Williams were in court this week, filing several motions in the former basketball star's upcoming manslaughter trial.

Williams is accused of shooting limousine driver Costas Christofi on 14 February 2002 at his estate in nothern New Jersey and of witness and evidence tampering immediately afterwards.

On Tuesday, Judge Edward Coleman's deadline for filing pretrial motions, defense lawyers Joseph Hayden and Billy Martin submitted about a half-dozen motions in Hunterdon County Superior Court, headlined by allegations of racial profiling by New Jersey state police officers.

The defense claims that in a search of public records, nearly ten percent of the approximately 70 state troopers named as prosecution witnesses "have had incidents, allegations, or investigations surrounding racial bias complaints against minorities."

Hayden and Martin requested that Coleman review the troopers' personnel records and pass along any relevant information.

Hunterdon County first assistant prosecutor Steven Lember, the lead prosecutor in the state's case against Williams, insists that there is no merit to the claim of racial bias.

"We have never made race an issue and race should not be an issue in this case," Lember said.

He added that many of the troopers named as witnesses did not have investigative roles. Some did nothing more than control traffic around Williams' mansion the night of the shooting.

"I have confidence in every detective who worked on this case," Lember said.

In another motion, the defense asked for a new trial location.

"Given the cumulative effect of the torrent of publicity... it is now necessary that this court change venue so that the defendant can receive a fair trial in front of an unbiased jury," Williams' attorneys wrote in a motion.

A defense survey of potential jurors revealed that 82 percent had heard about the shooting and half of those believed Williams was "probably" or "definitely" guilty of criminal conduct.

In neighboring Mercer and Bergen counties, the percentage of potential jurors who knew of the Christofi shooting dipped below half -- 47 and 44 percent, respectively.

However, 34 percent of possible Hunterdon County jurors said they needed more information to make a decision on whether Williams is guilty.

"Isn't that exactly the jury you want -- people that are going to wait and see the evidence," Lember asked.

Williams' attorneys also challenged a prosecution witness whose "speculative retrograde extrapolation" method of determining that Williams was drunk at the time of the shooting. The defense labeled his work as "junk science" and provided affidavits from experts who call it "unreliable."

As part of that motion, the defense emphasized the testimony of one of its experts, forensic psychologist Joel Dvorskin. He claims that Williams' "funny and outrageous" personality can make him appear drunk.

Also, the defense took another shot at getting the indictment against Williams thrown out. In the spring, the defense sought dismissal on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct, but Lember convened a new grand jury and quickly got a second indictment handed up.

This time, Hayden and Martin claim that Lember failed to properly screen grand jurors for exposure to prejudicial media.

If the indictment is upheld, the defense will seek the removal of a weapons charge which they claim was included in the new indictment solely because they challenged the original one.

The defense is also asking for Coleman's help in acquiring records on the Browning shotgun which killed Christofi. It suggested that this particular model is prone to accidental discharge.

"These motions directly challenge the integrity of the second grand jury that indicted Jayson," Hayden and Martin said. "They also challenge the notion of future trial fairness and evidence reliability."