Basile Parasiris is charged with the first-degree murder of Const. Daniel Tessier on March 2, 2007, and the attempted murder of another officer. Parasiris is also charged with a variety of drug and weapons charges. Parasiris, 42, has pleaded not guilty, insisting he thought he was protecting his family from home invaders in the early morning incident.

Lawyers deposited several preliminary motions before the court Monday but the content of the motions cannot be reported because of a publication ban.

Tessier was a Laval, Que., police officer working on a drug-ring investigation that spanned his own city and Longueuil.

The trial is expected to take between four and six weeks.

Tessier was the second Laval police officer to be killed in the line of duty. The first, Const. Valerie Gignac, was slain one year earlier. The trial for her alleged killer was also supposed to start on Monday but was postponed.