Jury selection ended early this afternoon in the trial of a Topeka man charged with a deadly shooting in early 2006 outside a downtown night club.

Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in the trial of Rashawn T. Anderson, 20. He’s charged with first-degree murder for the Feb. 5, 2006, shooting of Robert Earl Williams, 46, and with aggravated battery for a shooting that injured a Kansas City, Kan. man. The shooting happened outside a hip-hop concert at The Granada, 1020 Mass., after what Williams’ widow has described as a spontaneous argument among strangers.

Potential jurors’ attitudes about subjects, including Topeka and the safety of Lawrence’s downtown, came into play during jury selection. About 50 potential jurors gathered this morning in a room in a basement room at the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St. Attorneys spent the morning quizzing them about their backgrounds and their knowledge of the case.

“Is there some possibility that the fact that this crime occurred at a place where you go quite often : does that give you any hesitation about being a juror in the case?” defense attorney Tom Bartee asked one potential juror. He answered, “No.”

Bartee asked some jurors whether Anderson’s or other witnesses’ ties to Topeka would influence their opinions of the case.