GRETNA, La. (AP) — After two days of weather-related delays, the trial of the man who fatally shot former NFL football player Joe McKnight in 2016 is about to resume.
FILE – In this Nov. 18, 2012 file photo, New York Jets running back Joe McKnight (25) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. The trial in a road-rage shooting that left McKnight dead was set to begin with jury selection Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, in a New Orleans suburb. McKnight was shot to death by Ronald Gasser in the December 16 shooting. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File)
Ronald Gasser is charged with second-degree murder in McKnight’s death.
His trial opened Tuesday in a New Orleans suburb with jury selection. Icy weather caused the courthouse to close Wednesday and Thursday.
The courthouse was scheduled to re-open Friday, when opening arguments could begin.
The shooting followed a traffic confrontation. Police said the men cut each other off in traffic on a New Orleans bridge and on roads in neighboring Jefferson Parish. The vehicles had stopped and McKnight was standing outside Gasser’s car when he was shot. Gasser’s attorneys say McKnight was the aggressor and are expected to pursue a self-defense argument.
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