Police search car, home of Iverson

PHILADELPHIA -- Police found broken glass and smeared blood inside a vehicle frequently driven by Allen Iverson's wife, but an extensive search of the NBA star's home and cars failed to turn up any guns, a police official said.

Investigators also found rocks and women's' clothing inside Tawanna Iverson's Cadillac Escalade, according to the official, who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity.

In a court affidavit, police said they were hunting for evidence to back accusations that Iverson threw his wife out of their Gladwyne home during a fight, then barged into a cousin's Philadelphia apartment with a gun while searching for her a night later.

It was not immediately clear what impact the discovery had on the case.

Police were able to confirm that Tawanna Iverson had checked into a hotel on July 1 and that Iverson had gone there looking for her shortly before 3 a.m. on July 3.

While at the hotel, Iverson allegedly told security guards he was looking for a car with smashed windows. He left without having found it, police said.

None of the Cadillac's windows were broken when police searched the vehicle Thursday, but in court papers investigators said they were also seeking automobile repair receipts.

While the blood and glass may bolster the police theory that Iverson acted violently, defense attorneys said the failure to find a gun will hurt the prosecution.

"Unaccompanied by a weapon, this is a nothing case, an absolute nothing case," said Edwin Jacobs Jr., an attorney for convicted Philadelphia mob boss Joseph Merlino.

"If police have a gun and an eyewitness, this is a tougher case to defend. If police don't have a gun, and an eyewitness who says, 'Well, he had a gun in his pocket but he didn't take it out and I didn't necessarily see it,' that becomes a much easier case to defend."

Barring discovery of a weapon, he said, the case would come down to a credibility contest between the former NBA MVP and his two accusers, Charles Jones, 21, and Hakim Carey, 17.

Since March, Jones had been living with Iverson's cousin, Shaun Bowman. Carey lived upstairs, but said he was with Jones the night of the alleged confrontation.

During his 911 call reporting the alleged attack, Jones told dispatchers that Iverson and his wife "have been going through some type of problem or whatever at home," and that Iverson had thrown her out of the house naked.

"It's like the third time he did it," Jones said. "He told her the next time he see her he was going to kill her."