HOUSTON — Jury selection began Monday in the third capital murder trial of A.J. Armstrong.
He's accused of killing his parents when he was 16 -- nearly seven years ago.
The first two trials ended in mistrials.
"It’s incredibly rare to have any criminal case end in a mistrial," KHOU legal analyst Carmen Roe said. "It’s particularly unusual to have two prior mistrials as we head into a third trial.”
Armstrong, now 23, was formally arraigned before the process began.
Jurors will be questioned individually after large panels are whittled down.
"Individual voir dire is incredibly rare in criminal cases that are non-death penalty," Roe said. "The last time we saw it in a criminal case was actually Robert Durst out of Galveston."
Antonio Armstrong Sr. and his wife Dawn were shot and killed as they slept in their southwest Houston home in July 2016.
A.J. Armstrong, who was also inside the home with his younger sister, was the Houston Police Department's primary suspect since the beginning.
Attorneys on both sides are under a gag order regarding the trial.
Roe anticipates changes in strategies in this third trial.
"I can imagine both the defense and prosecution are going to up their game and do better than they did before in terms of getting to a verdict this time," Roe said.
About a third of prospective jurors questioned together on Monday said they were familiar with the Armstrong case.
Individual questioning will come later.
Testimony is expected to begin in early June.
Armstrong's maternal grandparents attended Monday's proceedings.