SOMERVILLE, N.J. — Debris build-up and worn-down parts made the shotgun that killed a chauffeur in Jayson Williams' mansion ripe for a misfire, a ballistics expert hired by the basketball player's defense testified Thursday.

"It's my opinion that this shotgun was basically an accident waiting to happen," firearms examiner Richard Ernest told jurors at the former NBA star's manslaughter trial.

The statement brought an immediate and vociferous objection from prosecutors and a reprimand from a judge, who has said he does not want witnesses to use the term "accident" before jurors.

"That's not in any of his reports," Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman chided before telling jurors to disregard Ernest's characterization.

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Whether the discharge of the 12-gauge Browning Citori shotgun was an accident, a crime or both is the crux of the case jurors will decide. Williams faces 55 years in prison if convicted of eight charges stemming from the death of Costas "Gus" Christofi.

Ernest suggested wear and tear on the firing mechanism of the 10-year-old gun combined with wood chips and other debris lodged inside the weapon might have caused it to go off in Williams hand without him ever pulling the trigger.

"This particular shotgun is capable of discharging in several ways other than a conscious and volitional pull of the trigger," he said.

Ernest, a private gun consultant from Fort Worth, Texas, examined the double-barrel gun twice and did a series of experiments on a similar weapon. Using a computer animation of the inner workings of the weapon, Ernest showed jurors how pulling the trigger releases a part known as the sear allowing the hammer to snap forward and fire the gun.

He told jurors that the sear tip had worn down so that only a sliver of metal — he described it as the width of three pieces of typing paper — kept the gun from going off.

Ernest said jarring the gun might make the sear slip and the gun fire. Witnesses have testified that Williams snapped the open gun closed just before it went off.

Ernest said that an unexpected discharge also might occur if a wood chip such as one found inside the Browning lodged in the notch between the sear and the hammer. One of the wood chips, he said, was pinched as if it had once been caught between metal parts.

In testimony outside the presence of the jury Thursday morning, Ernest said he made a gun very similar to Williams' misfire dozens of times in his laboratory by placing wood chips in the notch with tweezers and a microscope. He conceded that he could not get either gun to misfire outside the lab. After hearing his descriptions of the experiments, Coleman said he could tell jurors about them. He is expected to do Monday, when testimony resumes.

Firearms feud

The defense also used Ernest's day-long turn on the witness stand to attack the credibility of prosecution witnesses. Benoit Benjamin, a former pro basketball player who was a guest in Williams' home the night of the shooting, testified that he could see the gun was loaded from 3 feet away. Ernest said the lower barrel of the gun was obscured if the breach of the weapon was not fully open.

Without referring directly to Benjamin's testimony, Ernest said, "The only person who really is able to see into that mechanism that counts is the person who is actually the gun handler."

He also attempted to undermine the testimony of the prosecution's gun expert, State Police Detective Sgt. James Ryan. He testified that his tests showed the gun only went off when someone pulled the trigger.

Ernest implied that Ryan's tests did not follow proper protocols and said that the police examiners did not even know how to dismantle the gun before he showed them.

"They turned it over to me after they could not get it apart," he said.

Ernest said he was particularly angered about Ryan's testimony that another prosecution expert, Larry Nelson, had wiped his hands on cleaning pads used to collect trace evidence from the gun.

With Nelson sitting in the second row of the courtroom, Ernest said the incident was tantamount to destroying evidence and "downright immoral."

Nelson, a Browning employee, stormed out of the court. He is expected to take the stand during the prosecution's rebuttal case.

A lawyer for the Utah gun manufacturer said Ernest had a history of conflict with the company.

"Mr Ernest is a well-known person who goes around the country testifying against firearms manufacturers, and there's no basis in fact for any of the opinions he's attempting to offer," Will Griffin said.