CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Jury selection began Monday in the Charlottesville, Va., trial of ex-University of Virginia lacrosse player George Huguely in the death of a former girlfriend.
Yeardley Love, who also played lacrosse for UVA, was found dead in a pool of blood nearly two years ago in her off-campus apartment.
A street was closed near the courthouse to accommodate a large media presence at the trial. TV trucks crowded the area and more than 150 reporters had registered for 30 seats in the courtroom, The Washington Post said.
Police say Huguely, 24, of Chevy Chase, Md., admitted in a videotaped statement he kicked through Love's bedroom door May 3, 2010, and engaged in a physical altercation with the 22-year-old woman. He is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder in a robbery or attempted robbery, robbery of a residence, burglary, entering a house with intent to commit a felony and grand larceny.
Defense attorneys are expected to argue Love, of Cockeysville, Md., did not die of blunt-force trauma to the head and instead suggest she could have died from an irregular heartbeat related to the prescription drug Adderall, the newspaper said.
