Mental health concerns have delayed trial for a Lawrence man facing gun charges in connection with the unsolved killing of a Lawrence hip-hop artist.

Jury selection was set to begin Tuesday in federal court in Kansas City, Kan., for Major C. Edwards Jr., 27, on charges that he illegally possessed guns and ammunition despite a felony conviction for dealing cocaine.

But Edwards’ attorney filed a motion Monday saying he hadn’t yet been able to review all of the government’s evidence with his client – in part, he wrote, because prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office don’t allow defendants to make their own copies of police reports.

Defense attorney Phillip R. Gibson also wrote that Edwards has not been able to take his medication prescribed for bipolar disorder since he was arrested last fall. He asked for Edwards to be “appropriately medicated” while in custody.

“Both defendant and counsel have believed that the defendant was ‘coping’ well without his medication, but as the trial date approaches and the defendant’s level of stress and anxiety increases, his behavior and thought processes have become demonstrably more erratic,” Gibson wrote.

Edwards, who is barred from having a gun because of a felony conviction for selling cocaine, was arrested on gun charges as Douglas County sheriff’s deputies and Lawrence police investigated the killing of Anthony J. Vital, who was found shot to death Oct. 15 in a field west of Lawrence along U.S. Highway 40. Deputies have said Edwards is a person of interest in the case, but he is not charged with the shooting.

A new trial date hasn’t been scheduled.