Martín Ríos, known as the "Belgrano shooter," refused to testify on the first day of the trial. He was brought to court today on charges of having shot to death a pedestrian in the City neighbourhood of Belgrano in 2006. He is also accused of wounding 11 when he started firing guns at blank point for no apparent reason.

The hearing began at 9am in Criminal Court formed by Alfredo Rizzo Romano, Carlos Bruno Diet and Ana Herrero. Three of the twenty-three psychiatric experts, brought by the defence and the plaintiff, testified in the case to provide evidence on the mental conditions of the defendant, judicial sources said.

Ríos went to the hearing on time and he sat during the first part of the audience in the debate hall near Marcenac's parents, but then the court's president decided to take him to an adjoining hall. He will remain in that hall during the hearing and would be taken to the courtroom "when necessary," said the judges.

Ángel Ramallo, Ríos' attorney, has claimed the accused is mentally unfit to stand trial. He would likely base his case on a previous court ruling, which had adjourned the case on the basis the accused was not aware of the criminality of his actions.

After he left, the tribunal called the first witness to the bench, who had been hired by the Marcenac family to conduct the initial mental examination on the accused.

Psychiatrist Luis Kvitko said he doubted the diagnose of schizophrenia of the initial test, claiming "more examinations were necessary to reach an accurate result," he asserted. Kvitko described that during the initial examination; Ríos just "stopped talking, and said nothing further in 42 minutes.... He wasn't pathologically mute. He just stood still," he said.

The plaintiff and the prosecutor are seeking to prove that the defendant was aware of what he was doing. Ríos is charged with the "murder aggravated by pleasure" of Alfredo Marcenac, and the aggravated injuries of 11 others, as well as the illegal possession of high-calibre firearms.

On July 6 2006, Ríos started shooting at blank point as he was walking down Cabildo Avenue during rush hour. Moments later, he shot Marcenac to death and wounded two of the latter's friends.

Ríos is also charged of wounding the passengers of a train and a bus in random shootings the previous days. He was arrested eight days later, at his mother's home in Munro.

At the court house, Marcenac's parents harshly criticized the strategy of the defence, and claimed it was "shameful... He is a cold blooded killer, who understood vey well what he was doing," said Adrián Marcenac, father of the victim.