UVA murder trial set to resume

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) - The trial of a former University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing his ex-girlfriend is nearing the end of its first week.

Jurors in the trial of George Huguely V are scheduled to hear more testimony Friday in Charlottesville in the death of women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love.

Huguely is accused of first-degree murder in Love's May 2010 death, allegedly slamming her head against a wall. His attorneys maintain the Maryland woman died in part by taking the prescription drug Adderall and drinking alcohol.

During testimony Thursday, witnesses described a volatile relationship, with each accusing the other of infidelity. One witness testified that he saw Huguely put Love in a chokehold months before she was found slain.

Huguely estimated he had 20 alcoholic drinks the day Love died. He told police he was more drunk then he had ever been and admitted to shoving, shaking and holding down Love that night until her nose started to bleed. But, Huguely says he did not hit her.

He claims Love was banging her own head against the wall . He described her as a "fish out of water". Huguely told police Love punched him in the face and hit him with her purse two weeks before her death after she found two girls in his room.

Legal experts say the volatile nature of the relationship could hurt Huguely's defense.

"The fact that this relationship was marked by violence; abuse, verbal and physical; lots of fights that hurts the defense because it's not a typical relationship, you know, people have problems but they don't go around choking each other usually," former prosecutor Paul Butler said.

In court, Hugeley stared at the floor and cried when the interrogation tape got to the part where police told him Love was dead. He could be heard crying on the tape and seen wiping away new tears in the courtroom.