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The Latest: Icy weather delays trial in death of ex-NFL back

GRETNA, La. — The Latest on the trial of Ronald Gasser, on trial in the December 2016 shooting death of former NFL football player Joe McKnight (all times local):

9:10 p.m.

The trial of a man who shot former NFL player Joe McKnight has been postponed due to weather conditions.

The Jefferson Parish Courthouse will be closed due to icy weather. Jurors were seated late Tuesday and opening arguments could start Thursday.

Fifty-six-year-old Ronald Gasser is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting. His lawyers have laid the groundwork for a self-defence case, casting McKnight as the aggressor in a road rage incident.

Police said they had crossed a Mississippi River bridge in New Orleans and pulled over in neighbouring Jefferson Parish, where the shooting occurred.

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10:40 a.m.

Jury selection has begun in the trial of a man who shot former NFL football player Joe McKnight to death in December of 2016.

Fifty-six-year-old Ronald Gasser is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting. His lawyers have laid the groundwork for a self-defence case, casting McKnight as the aggressor in a road rage incident.

Trial began Tuesday in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna.

Police said they had crossed a Mississippi River bridge in New Orleans and pulled over in neighbouring Jefferson Parish, where the shooting occurred.

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6 a.m.

The trial in a road-rage shooting that left a former NFL football player Joe McKnight dead is set to begin in a New Orleans suburb.

Fifty-six-year-old Ronald Gasser is charged with second-degree murder in the Dec. 1, 2016, shooting of the former running back.

McKnight played college ball at Southern California before three seasons with the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Police said the confrontation took place as they were travelling over a Mississippi River bridge in New Orleans and on roads in neighbouring Jefferson Parish.

Gasser's attorneys have cast the 28-year-old McKnight as the aggressor and are expected to argue Gasser shot in self-defence.

Jury selection was set to begin Tuesday.

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The 6 a.m. item has been corrected to show that Gasser is 56.

The Associated Press


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