ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Nearly eight months after the shooting of a Rochester police officer, the man accused of killing him is about to go on trial.
Jury selection started Tuesday in the trial of 39-year-old Thomas Johnson III and is expected to take several days as 1,500 jurors are said to be in the prospective jury pool - hundreds more than usual.
Johnson is charged with aggravated murder for the death 32-year-old Daryl Pierson. He’s also been charged with attempted aggravated murder and assault.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Monroe County district attorney said they may use testimony of Johnson telling another man he’d kill a cop before going back to jail.
Johnson was on parole when the shooting happened.
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