A 33-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 23-year-old schoolteacher, Ashling Murphy in Tullamore, Co Offaly, last year.
The charge of murder was put to Jozef Puska, from Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, in Co Offaly, before a jury was sworn in to try him at the Central Criminal Court this afternoon.
He stood and replied "not guilty" through a Slovakian interpreter.
A jury of nine men and three women has now been sworn in to try the case which is expected to begin tomorrow morning.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt told potential jurors the trial was expected to last up to five weeks.
Ashling Murphy was killed while she was jogging along the Grand Canal in Tullamore on 12 January last year.
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Mr Justice Hunt told the jury panel that they should not serve on the jury if they had publicly engaged on social media about the case "one way or the other".
He said the case had attracted "more than the usual share of publicity".
He said the jury system was very important and the integrity of the system depended on the integrity of jurors.
He said they should examine their consciences and see if they could approach the case with an open mind.
The judge said if the publicity the case had received meant they felt they could not give Mr Puska a trial with a completely open mind, based only on evidence heard in court, they should have no hesitation in telling the judge and he would excuse them from serving.
He said it was very important that the court did not discover down the line that someone had expressed views about the case on social media as it could cause grave difficulties for the trial.
The judge said the case was due to last four weeks but it might be prudent for them to allow five weeks.
Prosecuting barrister Anne Marie Lawlor said most of the witnesses would be from the Tullamore area with a large number of garda witnesses from the midlands and from Dublin stations.
Defence barrister Michael Bowman said Mr Puska lived in Mucklagh near Tullamore and had family connections with Crumlin.
The jurors were also told Mr Puska had been in St James' Hospital in Dublin in January last year and they should not serve if they knew anything about his stay in hospital.
