COEUR d'ALENE - The murder trial of a 29-year-old St. Maries man accused of deliberately shooting to death his girlfriend was halted temporarily Wednesday morning by an emotional outburst by the victim's father.

The second-degree murder trial of Joseph D. Herrera, 29, for the shooting death of his girlfriend at his parents' house in St. Maries on Christmas day 2011 continued for a second day Wednesday after jury selection on Tuesday.

The morning started quietly with opening statements by Benewah County Prosecutor Doug Payne and Herrera's defense attorney, James Siebe.

The initial witnesses have included officers who responded to the house that day and interviewed Herrera after the shooting. Herrera's parents, Jerrilynn and Jesse Herrera, who were home at the time of the shooting, also testified.

With most of the courtroom lights off, the jury watched footage from a Benewah County sheriff's deputy's "body cam" in the front yard of the Herreras' house at 319 14th St. Police and sheriff's deputies often wear cell-phone sized video cameras on their shirts and turn them on when responding to certain incidents.

Joseph Herrera and members of his family were out in front of the house as Stefanie Comack was being treated in an upstairs bedroom area for a gunshot to the forehead. She was quickly taken to the hospital and died shortly afterward.

Members of Comack's family, including her mother Suzy Comack, arrived at the Herreras' and police at the scene worked to keep the hysterical family members separated. Stefanie had been living at the Herreras' house for about three months prior to the shooting.

Stefanie's father, James E. Comack, arrived at the house in a red pickup truck. The video showed him pulling up and threatening Joseph Herrera and his family.

While he could be seen and heard yelling on the video, he then began roaring similarly from the back of the courtroom at Herrera.

James Comack was standing and yelling at Herrera, who was seated at the defense table. Comack struggled toward the front but was pulled back and out of the courtroom and into the hallway outside by bailiffs. Soon he was near the bottom of a pile of bailiffs and law enforcement officers in the hallway. He was allowed to leave after calming down.

First District Court Judge Fred Gibler returned to the courtroom after an extended break and said he was "reluctantly" banning Comack from the courtroom.

"He's not allowed to participate any further," Gibler said. The judge said James Comack had previous "outbursts" during earlier proceedings.

During opening statements, Siebe told the jury his client would be taking the stand during the course of the trial.

"The big issue here is whether it was murder or a manslaughter," Siebe said.

He said his client was upset that morning because he found out Stefanie Comack had been communicating online with other guys. Siebe said the couple used methamphetamine and pot, but he said his client wasn't high at the time of the shooting.

"Stefanie loved Joey," he said. "Joey loved Stefanie."

Siebe said Joseph Herrera had placed a semi-automatic handgun to his own head just before Stefanie was shot.

"She reached for the gun and pulled it back," he said. The gun went off and she was struck in the forehead.

Payne said in opening statements that there is no question Herrera shot Comack at close range.

"The question you'll have to answer is what were the circumstances that surrounded that shooting," Payne told the jury.

He said Stefanie was packing up her things to leave Herrera and go to her family's house when she was shot.

St. Maries police officer Bob Lowe, the first one on the scene, said he encountered Joseph Herrera outside in front of his parents' house as Lowe pulled up.

"He told me he accidentally shot Stefanie," Lowe testified. "He was totally hysterical."

Lowe said Herrera told him he was trying to unload the gun when it went off.

The trial was moved to Coeur d'Alene from St. Maries because a jury couldn't be rounded up in Benewah County because so many people in the community had connections to the case.

The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today at the Juvenile Justice Building downtown.