Murder Trial For U.Va. Lacrosse Player George Huguely V Begins

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WUSA) -- It's the first day of the U.Va lacrosse murder trial, and defendant George Huguely the Fifth said "not guilty" in a loud, clear voice to each of the six charges against him.

Attorneys are struggling to seat an impartial jury in the beating death of Huguely's ex-girlfriend, Yeardley Love. They've been questioning jurors well into the night. The case has drawn hordes of media from across the country.

U.Va's president suspects the trial's drawing so much attention because it's almost a Greek tragedy. Two young people from private schools and privilege, seemingly on the cusp of great adult success. Two young lives allegedly destroyed in George Huguely's drunken rage.

With the extended families of both defendant George Huguely and victim Yeardly Love crowding the front two rows of the courtroom, lawyers have questioned jurors for hours.

Huguely is in the courtroom for the first time since the allegedly murder, wan, thin and intense in a blue blazer that appears two sizes too large. His 6'2 frame no where near the 209 pounds he carried when he shared the U.Va lacrosse field with Love.

Love's mother softly cried as she watched. The entire Love family is wearing pink scarves in her memory. In took four hours for attorneys just to ask three jurors if they'd heard about the case and had made up their minds.

It's been nearly two years since a roommate found Love in her off-campus apartment, face down on her pillow in a pool of blood.

George Huguely V, scion of a wealthy, old Chevy Chase family, allegedly admitted to detectives later that morning that he'd kicked down his ex-girlfriend's door and beat her head against the wall until blood flowed from her nose.

But Huguely's high-powered Charlottesville lawyers insist it was "an accident with a tragic outcome."

Their medical expert has hinted that Love died not in the attack, but from a seizure brought on by a fatal combination Adderall and alcohol.

The horrible bruising on her body? That they've suggested was caused by paramedics trying to resuscitate her.The judge was hoping to seat a jury by the end of tomorrow. At this pace, that seems terribly optimistic.

Written and Reported by Bruce Leshan
9News Now & wusa9.com