Trial begins in death of U.Va. lacrosse player

Nearly two years after the battered body of University of Virginia student Yeardley Love was found, George Huguely will go on trial today on charges he killed his ex-girlfriend and fellow lacrosse star.

The trial will again bring the glare of national media attention in a case that has stirred passions far beyond Charlottesville, caused changes in university policy and influenced state law.

"This kind of crime brings home to us that violence can happen to us," U.Va. law school professor Anne Coughlin said. "These are two young people full of promise ... and for this kind of violence to erupt in their lives is shocking."

Love was found dead on May 3, 2010, when her roommates called an emergency dispatcher at 2:15 a.m. to report that she was suffering from a possible alcohol overdose. The first responders found Love unresponsive in her bedroom and noticed physical trauma. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

"Fairly quickly George Huguely ... became the focus of our investigation," Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo said shortly after Huguely's arrest. Court documents indicate Huguely admitted to having an argument with Love and kicking her bedroom door down on the night of her death. He also admitted to violently shaking her and allowing her head to hit the wall several times but said he did not know she was dead when he left her apartment.

The defense, headed by Francis McQ. Lawrence and Rhonda Quagliana, is expected to argue that Love died not of trauma to the head but because of complications from using the prescription drug Adderall, which contains amphetamine.

In a December 2010 hearing, Dr. Jack Daniel said he believes Love died from a cardiac arrhythmia that caused insufficient blood flow to her head. Other witnesses testified that .05 milligrams per liter of amphetamine was found in Love's body and she had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.14 percent.

Despite Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Chapman's objection, Judge Edward Hogshire in November granted Huguely's defense access to Love's medical records.

Huguely, now 24, is accused of first-degree murder, felony murder, robbery, burglary, statutory burglary and grand larceny. He was arrested on the day of Love's death and has been held in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail since then.

The university community paid tribute to Love in the days and weeks after her death.

On graduation day, about 25,000 graduates, family members and faculty members wore white ribbons to raise awareness about domestic abuse and violence. The ribbons were intended to honor Love, who died weeks before her own graduation, and slain 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington, whose body was found earlier that year.

Patricia M. Lampkin, vice president and chief student affairs officer, said university students have made an effort to form a "more caring community" since Love's death.

The summer after Love died, Leadership 2K, an organization made up of prominent student leaders, held its annual weeklong meeting. Lampkin said that conversation quickly turned to preventing any similar events.

The Day of Dialogue in September 2010 was born of this group's conversations, Lampkin said.

"We'll never be able to prevent everything," Lampkin admitted, but she said the Day of Dialogue was intended to encourage the university culture to be more compassionate and proactive. "That's where we have and continued to put our emphasis."

Huguely had a criminal history before he was arrested in Love's death. He was arrested in November 2008 and charged with being drunk in public and resisting arrest while visiting a friend at Washington and Lee University in Lexington.

U.Va. officials, including men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia, said they had no knowledge of this incident, which surfaced days after Love's death.

"When we checked in the system, (the incident) had never been reported or disclosed to us," Dean of Students Allen Groves said.

As a result, students must now report any changes in their criminal history each fall. Moreover, students must inform the university of any new arrests or convictions within 72 hours, or face possible honor charges. Student athletes must report arrests or convictions within 48 hours, Groves said.

Love's death has affected more than university policy. In April, Gov. Bob McDonnell signed into law a bill that expanded the criteria to obtain protective orders. Before the new legislation, Virginians usually had to be married to or have a child in common with the person against whom they were seeking an order.

The first two days of the trial, which is anticipated to run through Feb. 17, will be used for jury selection.

Potential jurors have been summoned to appear in groups of 45 today and Tuesday. They will be questioned both as a group and individually on their knowledge of the case, as well as any personal history with domestic violence.