After jury selection was completed on Monday, testimony began today in the trial of the 18-year-old charged with murder in the deadly shooting inside a car at 59th/Admiral (map) a year ago. WSB is covering the trial start to finish — read on for today’s report from court:

By Rachel Gabrielle
WSB contributing reporter

With the jury finally seated, the trial for the 59th/Admiral shooting case got under way this morning before King County Superior Court Judge Richard Eadie.

Opening statements from the prosecution painted a picture that this incident — in which 33-year-old Francisco “Cisco” Bailey-Ortiz was shot and killed on October 13, 2007 — was a premeditated act of violence.

The defense, however, presented opening statements characterizing the incident as an act of self-defense by the then-17-year-old defendant, who claims to have suffered years of sexual abuse from Ortiz. The defense said that Ortiz had followed the defendant over three state lines, showered him with money and gifts (including the gun that was used in the shooting), and often started fistfights with the defendant when Ortiz was denied sex. Ortiz had also reportedly told the defendant that he had escaped immigration authorities, and that the government couldn’t track him.

In the days leading up to the shooting, lawyers say, Ortiz had phoned the defendant more than 400 times. According to the defense, the defendant agreed to meet Ortiz the day of the shooting on the pretense that this was the last time, and said the defendant brought the gun to the meeting because he had no use for it and wanted to give it back. When Ortiz didn’t get what he wanted at that meeting, a fistfight broke out in the car and the defendant saw him reach for something he thought was a weapon — and that, the defense said, is when he acted in self defense.

Witnesses for the prosecution today included the first officer on the scene, Southwest Precinct Officer Neil Larkin, as well as crime scene investigator Detective Lisa Haakenstad and King County Medical Examiner Dr. Richard Harruff. Officer Larkin testified that Ortiz actually made a call to 911 while he was on his way to 59th Ave SW from the North Admiral area. But when Larkin arrived, Ortiz seemed disoriented, and when asked who had shot him, Ortiz replied “I don’t know.”

We also now know that Ortiz had been known by at least one alias, Antonio Cone, which was the name by which the Seattle Police Department identified him when the medical examiner submitted fingerprints. The toxicology report showed Ortiz’s blood-alcohol level at 0.11, and said there were also small traces of Valium in his bloodstream.

Other evidence submitted today included the pants and belt Ortiz was wearing the day of the shooting, the contents of his pockets (a few dollars, credit cards and a driver’s license), a cell phone, CSI Unit photos, autopsy photos, and the two bullets that were extracted from Ortiz’s body.

The trial will resume in the morning with the defense cross-examining the medical examiner, Dr.Harruff.