In a video played for the jury, state expert Christopher Trumble fires the semi-automatic rifle used by Jessy Roten. (Court TV)

CLEARWATER, Fla. (Court TV) — The jury in the case of a teenage skinhead accused of firing a fatal bullet into the home of a biracial family heard from dueling firearm experts Tuesday.

The state expert told the panel the defendant's account of an accidental shooting appeared impossible while the defense expert testified that a misfire was not only possible but likely.

During an afternoon break, Roten's attorney, Wesley Blankner, measures his height — a important piece of evidence in determining how he was holding the gun. (Court TV)

Jessy Joe Roten, 19, admits firing the shot that killed Ashley Mance, 6, in April 1999, but in a statement to police hours after the shooting, he claimed the semi-automatic rifle discharged accidentally as he tried to dismantle it.

On Tuesday afternoon, state expert Christopher Trumble told jurors that he found it physically impossible to position the weapon as Roten said he had at the time of the shooting.

Roten told investigators he was using his chin to collapse the stock of the gun when a round went off, but Trumble said he could not even place his chin on the button used to collapse a gun in tests on a firing range.

"I can't even reach my chin to the button," he said in a video tape of the range tests. Moreover, he said, even if could reach the button, the gun's scope blocked him from depressing it.

But despite the prosecution expert's claim that Roten's claim wasn't possible, the defense's firearms expert later demonstrated for the jury how Roten could have feasibly fired the bullet accidentally.

While agreeing that one's chin could not reach the stock of the gun while in shooting position, Terrance LaVoy, firearms expert for the defense, testified that it could be done while holding the gun lower.

Testifying for the defense, Terrance LaVoy corroborates Jessy Roten's claim that the shooting was accidental (Court TV)

"Obviously one can't do that holding it in shooting position," LaVoy said.

But according to previous expert testimony, the bullet was fired into the Mance home from 3 feet, 10 inches off the ground.

When LaVoy fired the gun in his analysis, he then held the gun closer to his waist -- as Roten alleged he was holding the weapon when he tried to fold the stock of the gun with his chin and the gun accidentally fired.

"I tried that I believe eight times. Six out of the eight times I folded it with no problem," LaVoy told the panel.

The trigger of the gun, LaVoy said, required at least four pounds of pressure to fire. But in his own tests, the gun would have went off all six times had it been loaded, even though he wasn't attempting to fire.

Reenacting what Roten said he did the night of the shooting, LaVoy held the gun waist-high in his left-hand in front of the jury. He then folded the stock of the gun with his chin, still keeping a finger of his right hand on the trigger and forcing him to bring his right elbow around.

It was swinging his right arm around was what could have given leverage to his trigger finger, LaVoy said.

"It caused the pressure of my whole right side to be transferred into the trigger guard," he said of his tests.

Pond had the witness then measure Roten from 3-feet, 10 inches from the ground to show that Roten, who is 5-feet, 8-inches tall, would be holding the gun around that area.

When questioned by prosecutors, LaVoy conceded that the height from the ground could also be consistent if Roten was on his knees in shooting position.

Also Tuesday, a forensics officer testified that a dozen shell casings were found in vicinity of the shooting. In the early morning hours of April 4, 1999, Roten made two trips around his neighborhood with the gun. During the first, at about 2:30 a.m., he said he squeezed off a dozen shots into a tree. Police were summoned and discovered four casings, but did not question or arrest Roten. Two hours later, Roten left his house again. The number of shots he fired the second time is disputed.

Prosecutors have charged he fired only once and aimed purposefully at the Mance home because the family was biracial. Under cross-examination Tuesday, however, the defense got forensics officer John Mauro to admit that he could not be certain his team had recovered all the bullets fired that night.

Mauro also told jurors how he used a laser to pinpoint where Roten was standing when he fired the gun.

Wrapping up the state's case was Dr. Laura Hari, acting chief of the medical examiners office, who explained the girls' injuries and the bullet's path for the jury.

Ashley Mance, her twin sister, Aleesha, and their half-sister, Jailene Jones, were sharing a bed when the bullet penetrated the exterior wall of their home and passed over the mattress where they were sleeping. It killed Ashley, critically wounded Aleesha and nicked Jailene.

The bullet first hit Aleesha Mance's shoulder, exited through her back and grazed the ear of her 4-year-old sister, Jailene Jones, before fatally striking Ashley Mance. Ashley's family seemed to be fighting back the tears in as Hari said that Ashley likely lingered for several minutes before dying of injuries caused by the gunshot wound, including a severed artery and a collapsed lung.

Before calling his first witness, defense attorney Gregory Pond argued for the dismissal of the hate crime charge. He also asked that the murder count be reduced to manslaughter, claiming that the prosecution failed to present evidence to support either allegation. But Judge Nancy Moate-Ley denied the motion.

If convicted of murder and a hate crime, Roten would face life in prison.

The first witness called by the defense probably looked familiar to the panel since he testified last week for the state. Deputy Keith Somers, one of the officers who responded to the scene, was recalled by the defense to answer question about four casings he recovered from the alley. In his brief time on the stand, he testified that he found no casings in the area of Mance's home.

Testimony resumes Wednesday morning.

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