SOMERVILLE, N.J. — Jayson Williams was squeezing the trigger of a shotgun when it blasted a chauffeur in the chest, an ex-teammate insisted at the retired NBA star's manslaughter trial Thursday.

Benoit Benjamin, one of four Harlem Globetrotters in Williams' mansion during the incident, waffled on location of his hand when he testified Wednesday, but on his second day on the stand, the 7-foot NBA veteran claimed he was certain Williams fired the gun.

"Did I see Jayson pull the trigger? Yes, I saw him pull the trigger," he told jurors.

The allegation from Benjamin came the same day as another former Globetrotter, Chris Morris, gave a milder, less damaging account of the Feb. 14, 2002, shooting of driver Costas "Gus" Christofi in Williams' master bedroom.

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Morris disputed reports that Williams cursed at the victim before the gun discharged and said that, from his vantage point, his finger was near the trigger, but not necessarily on it.

Jurors in the trial, now in its fourth week, have heard from three eyewitnesses to the shooting, each offering a slightly different take on the event. Two more Globetrotters, Curley "Boo" Johnson and Howard Paul Gaffney, are expected to testify against Williams, perhaps next week. And Williams' attorney promised jurors in his opening statement that the defendant himself would take the stand to give his account.

Prosecutors contend Williams was drunk and acting reckless when he toyed with the loaded 12-gauge weapon while showing off his gun collection. They are seeking a conviction on aggravated manslaughter and other charges that could send Williams, 36, to prison for 55 years.

Jayson Williams listened Thursday as a former teammate testified against him.

Williams maintains the shooting was an unforeseeable accident, caused by a malfunction in the gun, and not a crime.

Morris and Benjamin admit telling police initially the shooting was a suicide, as part of a cover-up they say Williams spearheaded. Both men are testifying under grants of immunity from the state attorney general.

'I think, think, think!'

The defense spent much of Thursday trying to discredit Benjamin, the prosecution's strongest witness to date. In addition to the testimony about the trigger, Benjamin claims that a shotgun shell was plainly visible in the barrel of the shotgun before the shooting and that Williams ridiculed Christofi with a string of profane insults immediately before the gun fired.

During a cross-examination that quickly devolved into a bickerfest, defense lawyer Billy Martin repeatedly suggested that Benjamin, bankrupt and in search of a job, was lying because he resented Williams' financial success and wanted to strengthen the prosecution's case against him.

"You knew that, without you saying that his finger was on the trigger, nobody could say that?" Williams charged.

Benjamin denied the allegation. He acknowledged, however, that he did not tell authorities about spotting the shell in the barrel until almost a year after the shooting. He said he was so shocked by the death of the driver that his "mind shut down."

"I was very traumatized by this event, and as time progressed different things began to come back to me more intricately," he said.

Martin asked how Benjamin could have seen over the shoulder of the 6-foot-10-inch Williams and down the barrel of the gun. Benjamin replied, "I was up on my tippy toes."

Incredulous, the lawyer asked him to demonstrate on Anthony Avent, a 6-foot-9-inch former professional player who is attending the trial in support of Williams. As Avent rose, prosecutors objected and the judge ultimately refused to allow the display.

But at another point, Martin had Benjamin stand in the well of the court with the gun and show jurors how Williams had handled it. At first Benjamin refused to touch the gun at all, and later he clutched with his left hand. Two other witnesses have said Williams wielded the shotgun with his right hand. When Martin asked if he was sure about which hand Williams used, the witness said, "It was the left hand, I think."

After several more questions, Benjamin erupted at the lawyer.

"I said I think four or five times. I think, think, think!" Benjamin shouted, glaring down at the 5-foot-10 Martin. Gesturing to Williams, he said, "You need to get him up here and ask him what he did ... I'm just a witness."

Several jurors, seated just a few feet away, laughed at the contentious exchanges, but one woman rolled her eyes and turned away from Benjamin.

Benjamin spent nearly seven hours on the stand over the two days. When Somerset County Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman told him late Thursday morning that the lawyers had no more questions for him and he was free to go, the hulking witness squealed, "Yipee!" and jumped up from the stand.

As he walked past Williams at the defense table, he nodded and said, "Good luck, man."

Williams, his teammate for two seasons with the New Jersey Nets, did not respond.

'A happy go-getter'

Morris, who played with both men for the Nets, followed Benjamin to the stand and was as reserved and mild-mannered as his predecessor was combative. The 38-year-old played for three NBA teams during his career and now lives in Texas and works as a substitute teacher at a charter academy for students expelled from other schools. He spent less than two hours in the witness chair.

He said he was coming out of a closet at the opposite end of the bedroom when "gunfire happened," and he did not have as close a vantage point as Benjamin.

Morris said he saw Williams holding the weapon open at his side. Suddenly, he said, Williams snapped the gun upward, closing it.

"It all came in one motion to where it just, just went off," said Morris. As the gun fired, Morris said, he saw Williams' hand "right near the trigger."

He said Christofi slumped to the floor and Williams appeared panicked. He said Williams asked if Christofi was all right and then said that he had "f---ed up his life."

Morris said at first he was convinced he was witnessing a practical joke.

Globetrotter Chris Morris was less clear on some of the specifics of the shooting than his teammate Benoit Benjamin.

"Jayson is always a happy go-getter as far as jokes," he said.

But when he realized Christofi was really hurt, he said, he tried to help. He felt for a pulse on Christofi's neck and detected a "very, very faint" heartbeat.

Echoing the testimony of other guests, Morris said Williams manipulated the death scene so it resembled a suicide, wiping his prints from the gun and wrapping Christofi's fingers around the trigger.

He said that, before police arrived, Williams stripped off his clothes and went running naked down to the lower level of the house. Another guest testified that he jumped in his pool. As he tore down the stairs, Morris said, "he was yelling out, 'Call [his agent and attorney] Sal [DiFazio]."

As others have, Morris testified that Williams urged the dozen men in the house that night to tell police they were downstairs in a recreation room when they heard the gunshot.

Morris said he went along with the lie to save the Harlem Globetrotters embarrassment.

"I was protecting the name of the Globetrotters," he said.

Throughout his testimony, Morris seemed unclear about where others were standing in the bedroom around the time of the shooting and said he was not sure if a diagram he provided to state police showed the positions of people before, after or during the shooting.

During a friendly cross-examination, Morris contradicted witnesses, including Benjamin, who have said Williams cursed the victim and flicked the gun toward him right before the shooting.

"You never saw him turn around and aim or point a gun at Mr. Christofi, did you?" Martin asked.

"No," said Morris.

"You never heard the word motherf---er, did you?" the lawyer continued.

"No," he said.

Martin asked if Morris had ever seen Williams as upset as he was after Christofi was hit. No, he said, he had not.

Later, Assistant Hunterdon County Prosecutor Katharine Errickson asked, "In all those years ... had you ever seen him shoot somebody?"

"No," Morris answered.

The gallery was filled to capacity for the testimony of the Globetrotters. Dozens of citizens lined up for the few public seats in the courtroom Thursday morning. High school students, retirees and courthouse staff crammed onto the narrow benches.

Testimony continues Monday morning.