Albuquerque police shooting trial begins

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The civil trial against the Albuquerque Police Department and a detective who fatally shot an Iraq War veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder has begun.

Lawyer gave opening statements Thursday in a case involving detective Brett Lampiris-Tremba.

Police say Lampiris-Tremba shot and killed Kenneth Ellis III outside a city convenience store in January 2010 after Ellis pointed a gun to his own head

Lampiris-Tremba was later cleared of wrongdoing by both Albuquerque police's internal affairs and a grand jury.

But last month, Judge Shannon Bacon ruled that the shooting violated the Fourth Amendment. Bacon says Ellis posed no threat at the time he was shot outside a convenience store.