HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. -- The trial is now underway for a Wilmington man charged with cyberstalking a UNC-Chapel Hill professor.

• Prosecutors argue Napier Fuller sent 12 emails to Dr. Lisa Zerden between December 2016 and January 2017
• The state says those emails contained anti-gay, harassing and threatening messages
• The judge warned Fuller that he's in dangerous territory because the case isn't about the constitution but about his intention behind the emails

Prosecutors argue Napier Fuller sent 12 emails to Dr. Lisa Zerden between December 2016 and January 2017. Some of those emails were sent within hours.

The state says those emails contained anti-gay, harassing and threatening messages.

Fuller contends he was only exercising free speech and that 12 e-mails aren't a lot. He also says Zerden is an LGBTQ supporter and he was only presenting an argument.

The state called up a UNC-Chapel Hill officer as its first witness. He testified he tracked the emails back to Fuller after Zerden complained. He even sent fuller a cease and desist order.

Fuller, who is acting as his own attorney, then cross-examined the investigator about where UNC stands on LGBTQ issues and the first amendment.

Fuller’s inexperience showed as the judge educated him on the law and how to conduct himself in court.

The judge warned Fuller that he's in dangerous territory because the case isn't about the constitution but about his intention behind the emails.

"The university's intention is not on trial here. The police department's intention is not on trial here,” said Judge Bryan Collins. “What's on trial is your intention. So all of this is relevant to the extent that it has some bearing on what your attention was."

The trial could last into Thursday.

If the jury finds Fuller guilty, he faces up to 60 days in jail plus a $1,000 fine.