NEW ORLEANS -- Pierre Thomas described witnessing the April 9 death of his friend and former New Orleans Saints teammate Will Smith on Wednesday, as testimony continued in the murder trial of Cardell Hayes, the man who shot Smith.I stood there in shock, telling myself, That didnt happen. He didnt just kill one of my friends, said Thomas, a longtime former Saints running back.Thomas was not involved in the altercation that led to Smiths shooting, because he was in a car driving farther ahead. But Thomas said he arrived in time to see the heated argument among Smith, Hayes and other parties, as well as most of the shots fired by Hayes.Thomas said Smiths wife, Racquel, had calmed Smith down and that the couple were walking back toward their car before shots were fired. Thomas said he was looking in another direction when the first shot hit Racquel Smith in the legs. But he said he saw Hayes fire the second shot in Will Smiths direction, then walk about two steps closer toward the former player and fire five or six more times into the Smiths vehicle.An eyewitness not affiliated with any of the parties, Stephen Cacioppo, described the shooting in a similar fashion. He witnessed the incident through the window of his home. Cacioppo said Will and Racquel Smith had moved away from Hayes toward the sidewalk before the shooting, and that Hayes shot twice, paused to walk closer, then fired several more times.However, neither Thomas nor Cacioppo witnessed the first shot, and both said they could not hear what was being said between Will Smith and Hayes before the shooting.Thomas and Cacioppo were two of six witnesses, as Wednesdays testimony centered heavily on the role of Smiths acquaintance, Richard Hernandez.Hernandez was the passenger in Smiths car who took off his shirt -- admittedly preparing for a fight -- during the heated argument that followed a pair of traffic incidents and led to Smith being shot eight times and his wife being shot once in both legs.Smiths vehicle appeared to bump Hayes vehicle while both were driving on Magazine Street, according to surveillance video. But Smith drove away, with passengers of the car testifying they did not feel like they hit Hayes vehicle. Hayes then pursued Smith, and soon after, Hayes vehicle crashed into Smiths vehicle at a higher rate of speed, causing the back windshield to shatter -- although the two sides have debated whether it was intentional or accidental. All parties agree that a loud shouting match ensued, and the state played audio Wednesday of Hayes telling an off-duty police officer that he exited his car with a gun in hand.Hayes, however, is claiming self-defense. He said he thought Smith was reaching into his car to retrieve his own gun after threatening to do so. And defense attorneys have painted Hernandez as the chief instigator in an escalating argument among three people in Smiths party and two people in Hayes party.At one point, defense attorney John Fuller loudly and dramatically hammered that point home, when he asked Thomas if he ever considered that if Hernandez had never taken off his shirt that maybe Smiths wife would never have lost her husband and Hayes family wouldnt be without him today.Thomas responded by saying the argument among Hernandez, Hernandezs brother-in-law Jonathan Whipple and Hayes friend Kevin ONeal was a separate argument from the one that was occurring between Smith and Hayes.And the assistant district attorneys repeatedly said that Hernandezs removing his shirt in anticipation of a fistfight was not as threatening as exiting a vehicle with a gun in hand.Hernandez testified Wednesday morning. Most observers agreed Hernandez was not a good witness for the state, because he appeared evasive and contradicted other witnesses, including Thomas, Racquel Smith and his own wife, Rebecca Dooley, on many points.Hernandez was the only witness for the state who would not concede that he was acting aggressively. And the defense attorneys mocked Hernandezs claim that he was acting calm, even though he admitted to removing his shirt in anticipation of a fight and admitted to fleeing the scene and leaving his wife there after the shooting, because he feared for his safety.Fuller asked Hernandez at one point, Whos lying, you or your wife? and Are you sure you only had three Grey Goose [vodka] and cranberries?Thomas testified that Hernandez swung at ONeal at one point.And the neutral eyewitness, Cacioppo, said Hernandez was acting ridiculous and said he appeared to charge toward Hayes at one point.The state tried to paint Hernandez as harmless and even had members of the jury laughing multiple times during Cacioppos testimony, since he described Hernandez as kind of bouncing around wildly, like maybe he wanted to fight and maybe he didnt.He was all over the place. I couldnt take my eyes off him, Cacioppo said.Hernandez is much smaller than Smith, Hayes and ONeal. ?The courtroom laughed when Cacioppo said things like, The white guy ... was not gonna make it. ... I couldnt see him winning a fight.Hernandezs antics diverted Cacioppos attention away from Smith and Hayes at the time of the shooting.Cacioppo testified that Smith and Hayes were arguing back and forth and hand checking, which he described as similar to a high school fight, when people began waving their arms toward each other, as if theyre gearing up for a possible fight.But Cacioppo said Racquel Smith stepped between the men to intervene, and he believed Smith and his wife had moved away toward the sidewalk before shots were fired.The defense has repeatedly made suggestions that Will Smith said something to the effect of, Youve got a gun, Ive got a gun too, and that Hernandez said something to Hayes to the effect of, Im gonna kill you, along with a racial slur.So far, all of the states witnesses have denied hearing either of those comments. But the defense has not yet begun presenting its case.Rebecca Dooley was the first to testify Wednesday, and she echoed Racquel Smiths testimony from Tuesday that Hayes not only shot Will Smith eight times but followed by shouting over him that he deserved it for showing off and that Hayes showed no remorse and was evil.The defense pointed out discrepancies between Dooleys testimony and her original statement to police, in which she never mentioned her husband being on the scene and said ONeal had been trying to calm things down. Wholesale Air Max China . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. Discount Air Max Shoes . On June 12, just as the sun sets on the magnificent historical city of Sao Paulo the inventors, innovators and purveyors of “joga bonitowill” open their campaign. The opponent, Croatia and all its football might and will. 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Australias coach Darren Lehmann has hinted at a difference of opinion with his possible successor Justin Langer over the future of Mitchell Marsh, whose recent struggles in the Test team have been attributed to a lack of mental clarity over his best means of success.Marsh made a halting start against New Zealand in Canberra on Tuesday before freeing his arms to devastating effect, and Lehmann said this was the way he wanted to see the allrounder bat in the future - as a destructive middle-order player capable of changing the momentum of a game.However he also indicated that there had been plenty of people in Marshs ear in recent times with differing views as to how he should bat, and pointed towards the Perth Scorchers and Western Australia state team - both coached by Langer - as places where that may have emanated from.Its good to see him make some runs, Lehmann said of Marsh. He struggled the first 13-14 balls and then he got one away and away he went. I think he said yesterday hes got to play with a bit more freedom, and he certainly is a highly talented young player, and hes got to find his way.Youve got so many coaches and different views - a Scorchers view, a WACA view, Australia view - and different coaches around the place. For him hes got to work out what works for him, and my personal opinion is when hes playing shots hes a lot more dangerous.Langer, who coached the Australian ODI team to a victorious triangular series in the Caribbean earlier this year and is widely thought to be in line to succeed Lehmann in the future, has made a point of encouraging Marsh to be used up the batting order. He also spoke publicly about his belief that Marsh had the potential to be a top-four batsman in all formats - a role that would entail a more sophisticated method than the power hitting he exhibited at Manuka Oval.He can easily become a four or five in all formats of the game, Langer said earlier this year. Thats what hell be aspiring to do and hes certainly got the ability to do that. With maturity I think he could easily do that in all formats. Hes that talented.Marsh has batted in the top five for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield this season without once passing 50, and for his part has said he now thinks he is best suited simply trying to play with freedom. Ive had a few conversations with Boof [Lehmann] ... I think in red-ball cricket the last couple of years I probably havent played my natural game, Marsh said this week. Ive tried to be a batsman that bats time but for me Im a hitter of the cricket ball and for the next few months I think Im going to bat like that and really back myself.dddddddddddd. I might get out a few ugly ways at times, but I feel it will give me the best chance to score runs and score big runs.When youre not scoring runs you tend to try plenty of different things in the nets to make something work. The last week or two Ive simplified it to watching the ball as hard as I can and then letting my natural ability take over. I felt much better once Ive done that and really just clearing my head.Lehmann, meanwhile, was complimentary of Glenn Maxwells attitude in the wake of his team fine for comments about Victoria captain Matthew Wade. Maxwell may be slotted back into the Australian ODI team for the third match against New Zealand at the MCG on Friday as Lehmann looks to shuffle his options and potentially rest one of his fast bowlers.Hes been fantastic. Full credit to him the way hes handled it and the way hes been around the group in getting prepared to play each and every game, Lehmann said of Maxwell. Weve named the team quite late both times because weve only got down to the ground just before. Hes missed out at the last minute and hes handled that really well. For him hes just got to be ready to play, if he gets his opportunity then away he goes.More light was also shed on the leadership group that elected to fine Maxwell. Lehmann said he had instituted a group of senior players in each of the teams he had coached, starting with Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Peter Siddle four years ago. The group is now comprised of David Warner, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, with input too from the captain, Steven Smith.Ive had that wherever Ive gone really, Lehmann said. I think thats a good idea because sometimes they might have a problem with the coach or the skipper, so its a good idea to have those senior players, and the skipper working closely with that leadership group, as staff we sit back and let them go with that.It gives them responsibility for how they want the team to run and perform and act and all those sorts of things. Weve had that the last four years, its just chopped and changed depending on whos playing and selection a little bit. Now that weve got a core group, they can pretty much do it and run it.It just gives the players a voice to us if theyre not happy or want to change something they can go through that. Some players arent happy to deal with it direct [with me] and thats fine too. ' ' '