Man convicted of killing New Orleans Saints' Will Smith files appeal

Lawyers for Cardell Hayes, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the shooting death of New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith, have filed an appeal of the sentence.

Hayes' attorneys claim in the appeal that the trial judge should have granted a new trial because a witness reached the day after Hayes' conviction said he heard two guns at the time of the shooting.

That would support Hayes' claim of self-defense, but no other witnesses at the trial mentioned a second gun and none said they saw Smith with a firearm.

The appeal also contends Judge Camille Buras should have allowed testimony about Smith's 2010 arrest on a charge of domestic abuse. The lawyers claim that would have shown he could be violent when drunk.

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro said in a statement that prosecutors proved Hayes' guilt and that Buras managed "this difficult trial fairly and impeccably."