TACOMA, Wash. — [AP] The trial is beginning for Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht who is accused of paying one man for sex multiple times and threatening another man who talked about having sex with him.

Jury selection begins Tuesday in Tacoma with a prosecutor from the state attorney general’s office and before a judge from King County.

Hecht has pleaded innocent to charges of felony harassment and patronizing a prostitute. He told The Tacoma News Tribune he’s a victim of opportunists, political enemies and overzealous police.

Hecht also faces a hearing in November before the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.