Prosecution expert: Williams' gun worked fine
By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
SOMERVILLE, New Jersey (Court TV) -- The shotgun Jayson Williams used to shoot a chauffeur was in normal working condition and fired only when its trigger was pulled, a ballistics expert testified Tuesday afternoon at the former NBA star's manslaughter trial.
State police weapons examiner James Ryan said he subjected the 12-gauge Browning Cittori shotgun to a battery of tests, including striking it with a mallet and slamming it shut, but it never misfired.
"Were you ever able to get the weapon to fire when your finger wasn't on the trigger?" First Assistant Hunterdon County Prosecutor Steven Lember asked.
"No," Ryan said.
The testimony appeared to contradict Williams' claim that the gun malfunctioned because of dirt in its parts. In his opening statement, one defense lawyer told jurors, "There was grime and gook and all type of debris ... [that] caused that gun to go off without pulling the trigger." Ryan, however, testified that the weapon was free of mechanical problems when he examined it two weeks after the shooting.
In a dramatic demonstration in the well of the courtroom, Ryan showed jurors a series of tests patterned on witness accounts of the shooting of Costas "Gus" Christofi. Three former pro basketball players have testified the gun went off after Williams broke it open at its breach and then suddenly snapped it shut.
After assuring Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman and the jury that the Browning was not loaded, Ryan held the weapon down at his side and tried to snap or push it shut with his hand in three separate positions. If he applied hard pressure to the trigger, he said, the gun's locking mechanism would not work. As jurors looked on, Ryan tried to push the breach closed and immediately the barrel fell back down.
He then gripped the trigger with what he described as less force and attempted to snap the barrel up. This time, the weapon closed. Ryan said that on the testing range, the gun fired at least six times when he closed it ? either by snapping it or slamming it with his hands ? while applying reduced pressure on the trigger.
With less pressure, Ryan said, the locking mechanism worked, allowing the gun to fire as soon as the breached closed.
Lastly, Ryan held the gun on the stock of the gun away from the trigger and jerked the gun closed. He said that in 20 separate attempts on the range, the gun never fired when his hand was not on the trigger.
Williams' defense seemed concerned about Ryan's testimony. As he gave the demonstration, three of Williams' five lawyers -- Billy Martin, Joseph Hayden and Michael Kelly -- left Williams' side at the defense table and stood within inches of the ballistics expert. They appeared to be noting in detail his hand movements, and Kelly repeatedly interrupted Lember's questioning to ask the witness to clarify his answers.
Ryan showed jurors the weapon's safety mechanism and told them it worked in tests he performed. In his opening statement, Martin told jurors the gun was designed for skeet shooting and manufactured without any safety. Ryan said it was clearly marked with an "S" for safety.
Kelly is expected to conduct a lengthy cross-examination of Ryan when court resumes Wednesday.
Ryan also testified that the muzzle of the gun was between 6 inches and 3 feet from Christofi when it fired. Famed criminalist Henry Lee, also a prosecution witness, put the distance at 6 inches to 1 ½ feet when he testified last week.
Williams faces 55 years in prison if convicted of aggravated manslaughter and other charges stemming from the February 14, 2002, shooting at his mansion. He looked grim during Ryan's testimony and when testimony broke for the day, he rushed from the courtroom holding hands with his wife, Tanya, who is eight months pregnant with their second child.
