UPDATED at 11:35 a.m. PORTLAND -- Superior Court Justice Robert Crowley ruled this morning that the pre-trial publicity of a manslaughter case has not created a "climate of hostility" that would require the trial to be moved out of Cumberland county.

But the lawyers for defendant Robert LaPointe will get one more shot to have the trial moved. Crowley is expected to question potential jurors, possibly starting this afternoon, about their exposure to publicity leading up to the trial.

If the judge finds enough jurors that he believe can be impartial, he'll keep the trial in Portland.

LaPointe's lead defense lawyer, J. Albert Johnson, argued that the press coverage pervasive and inflammatory, "a fair and impartial jury cannot be had in this case," Johnson said during a brief hearing this morning.

District Attorney Stephanie Anderson told Crowley the pre-trial publicity has been factual and impartial.

UPDATED AT 9:45 a.m.PORTLAND -- Jury selection has begun at Cumberland County Superior Court for the manslaughter trial of Robert LaPointe.

The trial for LaPointe, the man charged in connection with a fatal boating crash last summer on Long Lake in Harrison, is scheduled for today. The prosecution claims that LaPointe, 39, of Medway, Mass., was legally drunk and driving too fast when his 32-foot boat equipped with twin 435-horsepower engines ran over a 14-foot craft, killing Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Naples and Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, of Berwick.

LaPointe and his passenger, family friend Nicole Randall, 19, of Bridgton, were thrown into the water and were able to swim to shore.

Justice Robert Crowley is expected to rule today on a defense motion to delay the trial or move it elsewhere because of claims of prejudicial pre-trial publicity.

Crowley has said that he will be able to assess those claims as potential jurors are screened.

The judge sided with the defense last week in ruling that an emergency 911 tape recorded moments after the Aug. 11, 2007, crash would be unfairly prejudicial to LaPointe and will not be heard by jurors.

In another last-minute ruling, Crowley agreed that prosecutors will not be allowed to mention that LaPointe twice refused to give a blood sample after the crash, until he was forced to do so by a game warden.

LaPointe faces two counts of manslaughter, four counts of aggravated operating under the influence and one count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.

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