FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) - Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith is due to appear in a New Jersey municipal court next week to face traffic summonses stemming from a car crash that killed a friend in 2007.
A Monmouth County grand jury in October declined to indict the New Jersey native on vehicular homicide charges that could have carried a jail term."It's a relief that I get to keep playing basketball," Smith said after practice Tuesday.
Police say Smith drove his SUV around a stopped car at a stop sign and into the path of an oncoming car in Millstone in June 2007. His friend, Andre Bell, was killed in the crash. Smith sprained his left shoulder.
The former star at Lakewood High School and St. Benedict's Prep in Newark is due in Millstone Municipal Court on Jan. 13.
He said Tuesday he wasn't aware that he had to be in court on that date. The Nuggets host Dallas on Jan. 13.
Smith has since had two more speeding tickets and three license suspensions in New Jersey. When asked about it, he said, "not to my knowledge."
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Information from: The Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/starledger
