Jury Selection Starting for Rowland Trial

Jury selection is starting for the trial of former governor John G. Rowland on federal charges that he tried to create secret consultant roles with two congressional campaigns.

Prospective jurors will be in federal court in New Haven on Tuesday to fill out questionnaires. They're due to return on Aug. 13 for questioning and selection.

Rowland pleaded not guilty in April to conspiracy, falsifying records in a federal investigation, causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission and causing illegal campaign contributions. Rowland says he did nothing wrong, denying the consulting contracts were false.

Prosecutors say the contracts were intended to hide his role in the campaigns.

Rowland, whose trial is due to begin in September, was released from prison in 2006 after serving 10 months on a corruption-related charge.