The criminal case for former Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio is now underway in Syracuse. 

Following opening statements on Tuesday, 12 jurors watched on as surveillance video from a Dick's Sporting Goods store in Greece showed tht Astacio inquire about a shotgun. 

It was the most visual moment of the first day of testimony in the felony trial.

The recording had no audio, however it showed a sales associate engaging Astacio and answering questions about the kind of shotgun someone would need for home security.

Prosecutors allege that Astacio tells the associate she's asking about a gun because she'd received death threats on social media. 

Mark Derhey, the sales associate who assisted Astacio at the Greece store, testified that Astacio entered the store and appeared to be very emotional. He claims she became more emotional as he described how the shotgun would work. The sales associate did not let Astacio buy the gun because of what he called an obvious lack of knowledge of firearms and her emotional state.

When he told Astacio he would not be selling her a shotgun, she allegedly said that she would just go to another store. Derhey later testified that, per store policy, he alerted the other Dick’s Sporting Goods stores in Monroe County of the denied firearm sale. 

Not long after she left the outlet in Greece, Astacio traveled to the Dick’s Sporting Goods in Henrietta and again asked about a shotgun. She was again denied. 

The chain of events led one week later to her arrest on the felony count of attempting to purchase a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors say it violated condition nine of the terms of her probation, which she was serving for a previous DWI conviction.

The felony charge, to which Astacio has pleaded not guilty, and the effects a conviction could have on Astacio’s future in law, are the reasons an Onondaga County Court jury is hearing the case against the one-time Rochester City Court judge.

Astacio’s trial was moved to Syracuse after she requested a change of venue.

In opening statements on Tuesday, Astacio's defense attorney Mark Foti called the charge against his clients a “classic case of government overreach." He's expected to argue that his client's second amendment rights were infringed upon by the condition of her probation. 

William Bradburn, Astacio's probation officer, was called to the stand Tuesday by prosecutor Mark Sienkiewicz. 

Bradburn testified that Astacio was aware of the conditions of her probation, including condition nine. During cross-examination, he said that he'd never been involved in a case where someone had been charged with a felony of attempting to purchase a dangerous weapon.

Foti also intends to argue that an unloaded shotgun is not a dangerous weapon. 

Testimony in the case will continue Wednesday. If convicted, Astacio would lose her law license in New York.