WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A trial is beginning for one of three remaining inmate defendants in a deadly riot at Delaware's maximum-security prison.
Attorneys presented opening statements Monday in the trial of Roman Shankaras after a jury is selected from a pool of potential jurors.
Shankaras is one of 18 inmates originally charged in the 2017 riot, during which a guard was killed and three other prison staffers taken hostage.
In March, prosecutors dismissed cases against several defendants. That decision came after trials of seven inmates resulted in only one, who admitted planning the uprising knowing it could become violent, convicted of murder.
With little physical evidence, and no surveillance camera footage, prosecutors have relied heavily on testimony from other inmates, whose credibility has been successfully attacked by defense attorneys.
