An Atlanta police officer will start trying today to find 12 citizens who will believe he is innocent in the cover-up of the police killing of a 92-year-old woman.

The first challenge will be finding people who don't already believe he is guilty, said his lawyer William McKenney.

Special (ENLARGE)

Kathryn Johnston was killed when police fired 39 shots in a botched 2006 raid. Most of the accused officers entered pleas.

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That is because the officer, Arthur Tesler, was one of the cops on the scene as Kathryn Johnston was shot when a narcotics unit did a surprise raid on her house after getting wrong information that cocaine was stored there. Then they tried to cover up the crime by planting drugs in her basement.

Two former officers have pleaded guilty to a state charge of voluntary manslaughter and a federal charge of violating Johnston's constitutional rights. Those felons, Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, are in federal prison although they have not been sentenced because their prison terms are to be based on their cooperation with authorities. Junnier faces up to 10 years and Smith up to 12 years, according to the plea deals.

Tesler, who was charged with the lesser crimes of making a false statement to an investigator, violating his oath of office and unlawful imprisonment, is the only officer involved with the raid who opted for a trial.

He faces a possible 15-year sentence if convicted, McKenney said. He was not involved in the shooting, the lawyer said.

"He was in the backyard," McKenney said. "He stayed in the backyard."

Fulton County court officers sent out questionnaires to about 300 prospective jurors. McKenney said he expect it to take about two weeks to select the jury because of publicity with the case.

Johnston was shot in November 2006 when the officers, acting on a bad tip, knocked down her door and fired 39 shots at the elderly woman, who had armed herself with a pistol and fired one round. The narcotics officers had been tipped there was a kilogram of cocaine in the house. They lied to a judge about the quality of the information to get a search warrant.

Prosecutors said the events of that night were almost an "inevitable" outcome of a troubled police unit. According to investigators, narcotics officers said they hoped to reach arrest goals set by commanders by lying to get search warrants, barging into homes and sometimes restraining innocent people.