FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina - Army Sgt. Adam Holcomb is the first of eight soldiers involved in separate court martial trials at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He's accused of hazing a fellow recruit.
Military officials say 19-year-old Danny Chen killed himself in Afghanistan last year because of physical and emotional abuse he faced because of his Chinese ethnicity.
Holcomb's lawyers singled out the jurors who could hear the case, asking them whether they'd heard anything about Chen, what they thought about hazing and nicknames, even whether they have any Asian friends.
They will also try to argue that Chen had a strained relationship with his family.
People lined up outside the courthouse waiting to get in to watch the case. Twenty came from New York, including members of Chen's family who are still grieving for the young man who grew up in Chinatown.
The panel members, who are also soldiers, will decide whether Holcomb is guilty of negligent homicide and several other charges.
He could face seventeen years behind bars.
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