UPDATED DAY 3: Strategic opening statements, emotional first witnesses

UPDATE DAY 3, 4 p.m.: 

This afternoon a series of prosecution witnesses testified in the George Huguely murder trial in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Three relatives of Yeardley Love testified, principally about what they did with her personal effects. Huguely is charged with murder in connection with the 2010 death of Love, his ex-girlfriend and fellow University of Virginia student.

Friends and relatives boxed them up shortly after her death, and stored them in Love's car until they could be driven to her Maryland home.

They were stored in her bedroom there for a while, testified her mother Sharon Love, until a police officer came and asked to look through them. The police officer took something, Sharon Love thought, but she was unsure what.

Yeardley Love's sister, Lexie Love, testified that the police officer asked them not to watch as he searched and they didn't pry into what he took.

One of Love's two roommates, lacrosse player Kaitlin Duff, testified about several events in the months leading up to Love's death, including when Love found out that Huguely had been seeing another woman and the discussion among teammates about an email Huguely sent Love.

The defense's cross-examination focused on whether Love was drinking during most of the events Duff outlined on examination by the prosecution.

At several points the witnesses were in tears.

UPDATED, DAY 3 1:50 p.m.:

Opening arguments have finished in the George Huguely trial, who faces a murder charge in the 2010 death of ex-girlfriend Yeardley Love.

The prosecution tried to paint a picture of a violent boyfriend furious that victim Love had had sex with another man and told Huguely the other man outperformed him in bed.

The prosecution quoted an email from Huguely to Love that read in part, "I should have killed you."
The defense portrayed the events that led to Love's death as a tragic accident. The two had fought, including physical contact, but Huguely's actions ordinarily shouldn't have been enough to kill her, the defense argued in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

"George never, never, never had any intent to kill her," said defense attorney Francis McQ. Lawrence.

Jurors could seriously consider finding Huguely guilty of involuntary manslaughter, he said.

Each summation took about an hour.

Commonwealth's attorney Dave Chapman argued that Huguely and Love had fought physically before and that the two had a very turbulent relationship.

Chapman said Huguely wanted to reconcile with Love.

Chapman spent much of his time detailing the injuries found on Love after she died, ranging from cuts on the inside of her mouth to damage to her brain.

He told the jury they would be able to count the bruises on her.

The prosecution also described Huguely kicking through Love's locked bedroom door in order to enter that room.

Lawrence told the jury that the defense and prosecution would likely agree on many facts, but that the battle would like hinge on medical evidence about her death and interpretation of the circumstances surrounding her death.

Lawrence also read more of Huguely's email saying he should have killed Love. The larger quote was: "I should have killed you. You should have killed me. You're so [profanity] up."

Huguely thought he had only given Love a nosebleed because he had only committed enough violence to expect that level of injury, Lawrence told the jury.

He said Huguely's surprise when police told him, "You've killed her, George. You've killed her," was evidence that he hadn't intended her death.

UPDATED, DAY 3 1:10 p.m.:

George Huguely's defense in his murder trial in Charlottesville Circuit Court is beginning to grow more clear.

In opening statements today, his defense team has countered the previous notion that Huguely banged Yeardley Love's head against a wall of her apartment in 2010 on the night when she was found dead. Both Love and Huguely were seniors at the University of Virginia, had a previous relationship and were members of the university's lacrosse teams.

Huguely's lawyers told jurors in opening statements that evidence would allow them to "believe that all he knew was that she had a slight nosebleed" when he left her apartment after a confrontation between the two. The death, the lawyers said, was unintended and unexpected.

They suggested the jury consider involuntary manslaughter.

The prosecution, meanwhile, told jurors in opening remarks that Huguely earlier had emailed a message to Love: "I should have killed you."

Stay tuned for updates.

UPDATED, DAY 3 10:45 a.m.: The jury in the George Huguely case has been sworn in.

The panel of 12 jurors and alternates includes seven men and seven women, though the exact make up of the jury of 12 remains unclear. There appeared to be one black man and one black woman.

Which seats will be the alternates was decided by random drawing before the jury entered, but who will sit where wasn't yet clear.

The pool stood at 28 potential jurors yesterday. Two told officials early this morning that they couldn't serve for reasons that weren't made public.

Two more were kept in reserve, and a group of 24 was whittled to 14 through final cuts from the prosecution and defense. The cuts were done as a list, with a deputy clerk reading off which would-be jurors were eliminated.

The judge, Edward Hogshire, has now given the jurors a few moments to notify friends, loved ones, childcare providers and others that they'll be obligated to say.

The jury was given its instructions before cuts were made, and opening arguments are expected to begin shortly in Charlottesville Circuit Court. Huguely faces murder charges in connection with the 2010 death of his ex-girlfriend, Yeardley Love.

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The jury in the George Huguely trial should go through its final round of cuts this morning and be officially empanelled.

A field of 28 will be narrowed to 15, which will include a 12-member jury and three alternates.

That should be followed by opening statements from the prosecution and defense.

The prosecution will outline its case against Huguely, who is charged with six total counts, including murder, in the death of fellow lacrosse player Yeardley Love.

Defense attorneys will outline what their version of events is.

In a statement days after Love’s death, defense attorneys labeled her death “an accident with a tragic outcome.”