Live Blog: Hoonah homicide trial day 4

Opening arguments are now planned for Thursday morning in the trial of a Hoonah man accused of killing two police officers. After three days of interviews with prospective jurors, a jury was seated Wednesday afternoon in the case of State of Alaska vs. John N. Marvin, Jr.

Fourteen men and women will hear the case. As per usual routine in Juneau Superior Court, two of the jurors will be randomly selected as alternates and dismissed before deliberations get underway.

Marvin was arrested in late August 2010 after he allegedly shot Matt Tokuoka and Tony Wallace and then held other officers in a stand-off for about a day.

After three previous hearings to determine whether Marvin was mentally capable to assist his attorney with his defense at trial, jury selection officially started on Monday with 255 Juneau residents initially asked to report for jury duty. Of that, ninety potential jurors survived two long days of individual interviews about pre-trial media coverage and potential bias.

Based on comments made by prospective jurors, public defender Eric Hedland made a motion on Wednesday to change the venue or move the trial out of Juneau. But Superior Court Judge David George denied the motion.

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