-- From Times staff reporter Steve Miletich:

Opening statements are set for Tuesday in the trial of Paul Schene, the former King County sheriff's deputy accused of assaulting a teenage girl in a SeaTac City Hall holding cell.

Schene was charged with one count of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, in a videotaped altercation with Malika Calhoun , then 15, after she was arrested for investigation of car theft on Nov. 29, 2008.

The video gained widespread media attention and the case took on broader implications when it was disclosed that Christopher Monfort, the accused killer of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton on Halloween night, might have been motivated by anger over the Schene case.

Schene's trial was recessed in November amid concerns about the timing of the proceedings and the Brenton slaying.

Jury selection in King County Superior Court took place today, with no jurors disclosing any knowledge that Schene's case might be tied to Brenton's killing and the Oct. 22 firebombing of four police vehicles at a Seattle city maintenance yard, also attributed to Monfort.

Schene was fired from his deputy job Sept. 9.

Calhoun sued the county and the case was settled in April, with the county paying a trust in the girl's name $125,000, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.