SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — Although prosecutors blame an amusement park manager for the death of a park visitor on the pendulum-like ride The Hawk, a defense experts testified Monday that the ride itself was defective.

Lawyers for Charles Stan Martin, who is charged with second-degree murder for June Alexander's fatal 60-foot drop from the ride, rested their case Monday with testimony from two engineers, who challenged the core of the prosecution's case.

A prosecution safety inspector previously testified that someone at the Rockin' Raceway amusement park bypassed the ride's safety system with jumper cables, allowing the ride to take off even though rider June Alexander's harness was not secured.

Prosecutors claim Martin was the only one with both access to the electrical panel and the motivation to alter the wiring.

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But electrical engineer Milford Brinton, who analyzed schematic diagrams and a user's manual for the Hawk, testified it had fundamental flaws and would have needed the jumper cable bypass just to run.

"The ride could not operate from the first time without those wires," Brinton testified Monday morning in Sevier County Circuit Court. "The ride could not operate before it arrived in Martin's custody."

Martin testified Saturday that he began experiencing problems with the ride from the moment it was purchased for $475,000 in 1998 — including problems with the platform at riders' feet and the motor.

Mechanical engineer Franklin Johnson further testified for the defense that faulty wires in the Hawk's electrical cabinet rendered the safety system inoperative.

"It's clear that the system would not operate without those jumper wires," testified Johnson, who works with Brinton in the Texas-based engineering consulting firm, Systems Engineering.

Johnson also attacked the accuracy of a diagram presented by a prosecution expert, saying it misrepresented wiring in the safety mechanism to make it appear as if it were functioning properly, which he claimed it was not.

On cross-examination, District Attorney General Al Schmutzer questioned both witnesses on the reliability of their findings, considering neither had run the actual ride in their tests.

Both testified that doing so was not germane to their tests.

Closings are expected Monday afternoon. Martin, 57, faces 25 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.