NEW ORLEANS (WWL-TV) – Attorneys and Judge Camille Buras worked into the night Monday to select the jury that will hear the case against Cardell Hayes, accused of gunning down former Saint Will Smith eight months ago after a traffic accident and argument in the Lower Garden District.

Twelve jurors and four alternates were seated, who will be sequestered for the duration of the trial, were seated after nearly 12 hours of questioning began.

Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.

That action continued a lengthy day of questioning dozens of possible jurors from a pool of more than 100 and a day in which prosecutors and defense attorneys quizzed two panels of potential jurors about whether they could ignore prior media coverage of the case and if they understood the state’s stand-your-ground law.

Prosecutors Laura Rodrigue and Jason Napoli through their questions sought to paint the April 9 argument and subsequent shooting as an incident Hayes sparked when he rammed his Hummer into the back of Smith’s Mercedes-Benz.

Meanwhile, Hayes attorney John Fuller indicted to the would-be jurists that Hayes acted in self-defense, saying that he did commit a homicide against Smith but said that the question is if it was a justifiable homicide.

Fuller also asked the jury if they would view the case the same way if the facts of it were the same but Smith had shot Hayes.

But that is an argument that prosecutors will apparently seek to deflate.

“It’s not reasonable to claim self-defense when you provoked it,” Rodrigue, the prosecutor, said. “It’s not reasonable to say, ‘Things got out of hand. I had to kill somebody.'”

Many jurors said that they could ignore whatever they learned about the case through media coverage and reach a verdict using only evidence presented during trial.

Hayes is charged with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated criminal damage to property.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors severed a fourth charge of aggravated assault, meaning he still faces that charge but could be tried on it at a later date.