SOMERVILLE, N.J. — The waitress who served Jayson Williams and his friends a lavish lobster tail and steak dinner the night he shot a chauffeur testified Tuesday that the former NBA star was not drunk despite running up a $627 bar tab.

Margaret "Meg" DeMatteo, a waitress at the Mountain View Chalet, told jurors at Williams' manslaughter trial that he and nine other men ordered a smorgasbord of beverages, including beer, cocktails, wine and $60-a-shot cognac, to accompany their $1,613 feast.

But the veteran server said the hoopster never appeared intoxicated.

"At any time was he acting out of order or inappropriate?" defense lawyer Joseph Hayden asked.

"No," DeMatteo said.

Williams' alcohol consumption that evening is a key area of dispute in the trial. Prosecutors maintain he was drunk and acting recklessly on Feb. 14, 2002, when he shot driver Costas "Gus" Christofi.

Williams lowers his head during testimony Tuesday.

He faces 55 years in prison if convicted of aggravated manslaughter and other charges. He claims the shooting was an unforeseeable accident related to defects in the shotgun and not his drinking.

A forensic scientist from the state police lab testified Tuesday that a blood sample taken from Williams about eight hours after the shooting detected the presence of alcohol in his system.

But the testimony of chemist Nirmal Sawhney was most notable for what it did not include. Somerset County Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman ruled before trial that prosecutors could not tell the jury Williams' blood alcohol content was 0.12 percent eight hours after the shooting. The state standard for intoxication in 2002 was 0.10 percent.

The jury has heard conflicting accounts of Williams' sobriety. A trooper testified Williams reeked of alcohol and slurred his words, while some guests at his mansion testified he did not seem inebriated at all.

DeMatteo testified Williams drank some portion of the four bottles of Chardonnay she poured that evening, but she was not sure how much. Under questioning by Hayden, she said the bottles were split between the guests "whether they wanted them or not."

Williams "told me to pour them for other people, but I don't think they even got used," DeMatteo said.

Front of the bill from the Mountain View Chalet.

Another prosecution witness, Dean Bumbaco, said Williams drank three-fourths of a bottle as well as several scotches and espresso with Sambuca.

Although both DeMatteo and her boss, restaurant owner Dimos Fokas, were called as witnesses by the prosecution, they proved helpful to the defense. Fokas said the liquor tab included a $190 charge for 11 cigars and $36 in non-alcoholic beverages.

He and DeMatteo both testified that they understood the three shots of Johnnie Walker Blue scotch, a total of $90, were ordered not to drink, but to soak the cigars.

Back of the $1,613 bill.

Fokas showed the jury a handwritten bill for the meal. The record revealed Williams, who once held an $86 million contract with the New Jersey Nets, treated his friends to an impressive feast that included seven lobster tails totalling $251.65 and a surf-and-turf dish priced at $53.90.

Fokas acknowledged some drinks were unintentionally left off the bill when he transposed DeMatteo's "messy" notes to the final bill. DeMatteo named several beverages, including shots of Sambuca and Grand Marnier, not tallied on the bill.

The bill lists five rum and Cokes, but one guest, John McPartland, previously testified that he drank 15 of the cocktails.

Williams, 36, appeared to pay careful attention to the testimony of the restaurant witnesses.

Both testified that Williams was a regular and was known as a good tipper. DeMatteo said he left her 25 percent on the night of the shooting. Fokas said Williams was such a good customer that he kept the kitchen open an hour later than normal to accommodate his group that night.

Testimony in the trial resumes Wednesday morning.