Iraq

Proceeding Expected Before Chris Kyle Slaying Trial Starts

A judge is expected to hold a pretrial proceeding ahead of opening statements in the trial of the man charged with killing the former Navy SEAL depicted in the Oscar-nominated movie "American Sniper."

The procedural matters were scheduled for Tuesday with openings expected Wednesday in the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine charged with capital murder in the deaths of Chris Kyle and Kyle's friend, Chad Littlefield. They were fatally shot at a gun range in 2013.

Eddie Ray Routh at Camp Fallujah

A jury of 10 women and two men was seated Monday.

The movie is based on Kyle's memoir. The celebrated sniper served four tours in Iraq.

Routh's attorneys plan to pursue an insanity defense. Prosecutors aren't seeking the death penalty. Routh faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Follow along with the trial as NBC 5's Ken Kalthoff and The Dallas Morning News' Dianna Hunt and Tasha Tsiaperas tweet the latest updates. Their Twitter feeds can be seen below.

At the conclusion of the opening remarks, Judge Jason Cashon ordered all devices that could record or stream audio, or be used to report proceedings live, removed from the courtroom during the trial. Follow along with the trial as NBC 5's Ken Kalthoff, NBC's Jacob Rascon and The Dallas Morning News' Dianna Hunt and Tasha Tsiaperas tweet the latest updates from the overflow room outside of the courtroom. Their Twitter feeds can be seen below.
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us