State Department special agent Christopher Deedy returned to a state courtroom today for a hearing to help prepare for jury selection this month for his trial on a charge of murdering a Kailua man at the McDonald’s restaurant in Waikiki in 2011.

The trial is scheduled to open July 1 to accommodate what is expected to be a weeks-long selection process because of the widespread media coverage of the case.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin April 15 in Circuit Judge Karen Ahn’s courtroom.

Deedy, 28, is charged with murdering Kollin Elderts, 23, during the early morning of Nov. 5, 2011 at the fast-food restaurant on Kuhio Avenue.

Deedy, a Virginia resident, was in Hawaii to provide security for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.

He has been free on $250,000 bond and is permitted to live at his Virginia home pending the trial.