The Latest: Defence says actor acknowledges killing wife

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Latest on the murder trial of actor Michael Jace, who played a police officer on the TV series “The Shield.” (all times local):

2 p.m.

A defence attorney for an actor who played a police officer on TV says his client accepts responsibility for killing his wife but jurors will have to examine why it happened.

Attorney Jamon Hicks said in his opening trial statement Tuesday that Michael Jace’s mindset on the day he shot and killed his wife April two years ago will be a key issue in the case.

Hicks says Jace’s legal team will seek to explain why the actor shot and killed his wife of nine years.

Hicks made a brief opening statement after jurors heard from a prosecutor who told the panel that the 53-year-old actor planned the shooting and taunted his wife before she died.

Jace could get 50 years to life in prison if convicted.

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12:50 p.m.

A prosecutor says an actor who played a police officer on TV shot and killed his wife in Los Angeles after he became upset because she wanted a divorce.

Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef made the accusation Tuesday during her opening statement at the murder trial of Michael Jace.

Mokayef says she will show jurors it was a tragic story of obsession and control.

She says Jace waited for his wife to return home on May 19, 2014, and shot her three times, including twice as their two young children watched.

Mokayef also played a 911 call in which someone she identified as Michael Jace tells a police dispatcher, “I shot my wife.”

Jace played a police officer on the TV series “The Shield.” He also had bit roles in the movies “Boogie Nights” and “Forrest Gump.”

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11:15 a.m.

A jury has been selected and opening statements are set to begin in the murder trial of an actor who played a police officer on the TV series “The Shield.”

The panel of six men and six women was seated Tuesday in the case against Michael Jace, who is accused of shooting and killing his wife April two years ago in their Los Angeles home.

He surrendered to police after telling a 911 dispatcher that he had killed his wife.

His attorneys have said his state of mind will be a key element of his defence.

A prosecutor has said Jace shot his wife in the back and then again while their young children looked on.

Jace also had bit roles in the movies “Boogie Nights” and “Forrest Gump.”

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12:30 p.m.

Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday in the murder trial of an actor who played a police officer in the television series “The Shield.”

Jury selection will continue Tuesday morning in the trial of Michael Jace, with attorneys and a judge hoping to finalize the panel and then have opening statements.

The 53-year-old actor is accused of shooting and killing his wife April at their Los Angeles home in May 2014.

Few details about the case have been revealed, but a prosecutor has said the couple’s young sons witnesses at least part of the shooting.

Jace told a police dispatcher he shot his wife and turned himself in to officers.

His attorneys have said his state of mind at the time of the shooting is crucial to their defence.