Lawyers defending Jayson Williams in a manslaughter case are seeking details about a racial slur made by a prosecution investigator against the black former NBA star.

The lawyers in a court filing said the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office only recently revealed the slur and that lawyers could have used it to discredit the prosecution case during the first trial for Williams.

The filing was reported by the New York Post in Tuesday's editions.

Williams faces a retrial next year on a manslaughter charge in the shooting of a hired driver in 2002. Williams was convicted in 2004 of attempting to cover up the slaying but was acquitted of the more serious charge of aggravated manslaughter.

Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on the reckless manslaughter count, voting 8-4 in favor of acquittal, leading to a retrial on that single count.