Jury Selection Set for Missoula Rape Trial

Jury selection is set to get under way Tuesday in the Missoula trial of a man accused of raping a woman and sexually assaulting another in 2010.

District Judge John Larson has rejected Joshua Jeremy Peltier's request to move the trial out from Missoula, but the judge says he will reconsider if he can't seat a jury out of the 170 people called on Tuesday.

Peltier says he is not guilty and that news accounts may have prejudiced potential jurors.

One woman was knocked from her bicycle and punched repeatedly. Her attacker shoved his hand down her pants and stole her purse.

A few days later, a 28-year-old woman was raped while walking her dog at 4 a.m.

Associated Press