After the shooting, Drejka was cooperative with police and had a valid Florida concealed weapons license, police said. And although he started the argument and escalated the encounter with a gun, he was not initially arrested in the killing because the Pinellas County Sheriff said the state's "stand your ground" law appeared to give him immunity.
"He felt, after being slammed to the ground, that the next thing was that he was going to be further attacked by McGlockton," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at the time.
A month later, though, the state attorney
charged Drejka with manslaughter. He pleaded not guilty and was released from jail on $100,000 bail last September.
The trial is likely to hinge on Drejka's expected self-defense argument. In a
jailhouse interview with WTSP last September, Drejka said he was "very scared" during the incident with McGlockton.
"I've never been confronted like that, never been assaulted like that, if you will, ever," Drejka said.
Jury selection in his trial started on Monday, CNN affiliates report. A defense attorney for Drejka did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday afternoon.