Milestones

By Elizabeth L. Bland, Benjamin Nugent, Roy B. White, Rebecca Winters

CHARGED. JAYSON WILLIAMS, 34, NBC basketball commentator and former New Jersey Nets star; with manslaughter in the death of limo driver Costas Christofi, accidentally killed by a shotgun blast on Williams' estate; in Flemington, N.J. A lawyer for Williams said he was "innocent of recklessness." If convicted, Williams could face five to 15 years in prison.

CONVICTION OVERTURNED. CHARLES SCHWARZ, 36, former New York City police officer jailed for participating in the torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima after his arrest in 1997; in New York City. The court ruled that Schwarz's attorney had a conflict of interest in representing him and that jurors had been exposed to prejudicial information. The ruling also overturned the convictions of Schwarz and two other officers for obstruction of justice. It does not affect Justin Volpe, the officer who pleaded guilty to torturing Louima with a broomstick and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

DIED. ELLIS JONES, 80, University of Tulsa and NFL football player with one arm; of a broken neck sustained in a fall at home; in Greeley, Colo. One of the athletes deferred from service who filled teams while others fought in World War II, he played in two Sugar Bowls.

DIED. LAWRENCE TIERNEY, 82, actor; in Los Angeles. A consummate B-movie tough guy, Tierney played the title role in the 1945 gangster classic Dillinger, in addition to roles in more than 70 other films. His drinking landed him in bar brawls and headlines in his midcentury heyday, and eventually sidelined his career. A comeback in the '80s and '90s culminated in his role as a gang leader in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 crime drama Reservoir Dogs.

DIED. SPIKE MILLIGAN, 83, British comedian; in Rye, England. With Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Peter Sellers, Milligan ruled Britannia's radio waves in the comic series The Goon Show during the '50s. His absurd, mildly grotesque characters caught on with the Beatles generation: without his work, John Cleese said, there "would have been no Monty Python."