Taylor Swift Groping Case: Pop Star Expected To Testify In Denver

DENVER, CO — A few moments at a backstage photo session four years ago are poised to be relived, as lawyers for pop star Taylor Swift and a former disc jockey she accuses of groping her begin selecting jurors in their dueling lawsuits.

Radio host David Mueller sued the singer-songwriter, saying he was falsely accused and that she should have called police instead of his bosses, who fired him soon after the June 2013 encounter. He's seeking up to $3 million in damages.

Swift countersued, claiming sexual assault, setting up the civil trial where she is expected to testify. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Watch: 5 Things to Know About The Taylor Swift Groping Case

Jury selection began Monday at a federal court in Denver. Security was tight, with police and a bomb-sniffing dog waiting in the rain along with about a dozen reporters before potential jurors arrived for questioning.

Prospective jurors are being asked whether they are fans of the singer-songwriter or the former host of a country music show. A 15-page questionnaire also asked prospective jurors whether they had ever been inappropriately touched, seen Swift in concert, downloaded or purchased her music or were at the June 2013 show where Swift says David Mueller touched her on the buttocks.

A total of eight jurors will be picked for the trial .

Opening statements were expected to begin Tuesday in the case that could last two weeks. Court documents say it is unlikely that either side will settle.

Swift doesn't have to be in court for jury selection, which is expected to end Tuesday. She must be present for the rest of the trial. The general public can watch proceedings from an overflow room in the courthouse.

Swift is seeking a verdict that awards her $1, while holding Mueller responsible and "serving as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts," her lawsuit says.

Mueller is also expected to testify, along with Mueller's former boss and members of Swift's entourage.

Mueller, then 51, was a morning host at a country music station when he was assigned to attend Swift's concert at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Mueller was backstage with his girlfriend when they met with Swift, then 23, in a curtained enclosure. They posed for a photo and left.

Later, Swift's bodyguard confronted Mueller with the allegation that he had reached under the singer's dress and grabbed her buttocks.

Mueller denied the allegation and asked that they call the police. He and his girlfriend were escorted out of the arena and a member of Swift's team called his boss.

Swift never went to the police. She tried to keep the situation "discreet and quiet and confidential" and was upset by Mueller's claim that "for some reason she might have some incentive to actually fabricate this story," her attorney, Douglas Baldridge, has argued in court.

Mueller's attorney, Gabriel McFarland, argues that Mueller may have been misidentified after someone else touched Swift.

Swift's mother and a member of her team are also defendants in the lawsuit filed by Mueller.

Watch: Taylor Swift Fans Show Support At Civil Trial

By TATIANA FLOWERS, Associated Press

Photos credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP; Evan Agostini/Invision/AP; John Salangsang/Invision/AP