Opening arguments in the murder trial of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez are expected to begin on Tuesday.

Bristol County Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh announced Thursday that opening statements will be heard following the end of the jury selection process, which is expected to wrap up on Monday, reports Fox Sports. Starting on Jan. 9, lawyers began screening over 1,000 potential jurors at the Fall River Justice Center in Massachusetts in search of 12 jurors and six alternates. They are now down to 46 candidates.

According to the judge, someone could be selected to sit on the jury even if they have previously heard of the high profile case. However, the court is restricting anyone from wearing NFL logos or football paraphernalia for the duration of the trial, reports The Associated Press.

Hernandez is currently being held in jail without bail in the shooting death of his friend Odin Lloyd in June 2013.

In December, a judge ruled that text messages sent by Lloyd to his sister moments before he was killed cannot be used as evidence in the trial. Prosecutors argued that the texts indicate that Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée, was afraid of Hernandez minutes before he was fatally shot at an industrial park near Hernandez's mansion. The messages were sent while Lloyd was in a car with Hernandez. One message said: "U saw who I'm with," while another indicated the person was "NFL," possibly referring to Hernandez.

After hearing arguments, Judge Garsh stated that the theory that Lloyd was in fear is "clearly in the realm of speculation" and "does not comport with common sense." She went on to say the texts did not suggest any hostility and that prosecutors failed to meet the burden to prove Lloyd felt he was at an "imminent death."

In addition, Judge ruled that prosecutors cannot bring up the 25-year-old ex-NFL star's other murder charges in the 2012 drive-by slayings of two men. Hernandez was charged with fatally shooting the men over a spilled drink at a Boston nightclub, reports ESPN Boston. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

Prosecutors have suggested that the disgraced athlete was motivated to kill Lloyd after possibly showing him the spot where the double shooting allegedly took place. The judge, however, said there is no correlation between the two crimes.

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