A jury was seated and powerful testimony got underway Tuesday in the trial of a former Florida A&M University marching band member accused in the hazing death of fellow drum major Robert Champion in 2011.

Dante Martin, charged with felony hazing and manslaughter, was the so-called ringleader of the beating that authorities say killed Champion, and the first of four band members to stand trial for the 26-year-old's death.

Eleven other former band members had their already cases settled, and the remaining three defendants had their trials postponed until April.

The six jurors and two alternates selected Tuesday heard from band members, some who witnessed the hazing ritual known as "crossing Bus C."

Was there a culture of violent hazing among FAMU's famous Marching 100? That's something State Attorney Jeff Ashton tried to establish in his opening statements, and with the state's first witnesses.

Kone Hollis, the first to take the stand for the prosecution, was on the bus with Champion the night he died.

"There's a lot going on," Hollis said, describing the ritual in detail. "You don't know where you're getting hit; you just know you're getting hit."

Hollis, who went through the ritual before Champion, took jurors through it step by step, saying band members would run to the back of the bus as they were pummeled with drumsticks by the other band members.

"Are you actually able to see Robert at some point?" Ashton asked Hollis during questioning.

"I saw him just trying to get to the back," Hollis replied.

"And what were people doing to him?"

"Punching and kicking him."

Hollis said he left the bus before Champion was done and didn't realize how badly he was hurt.

Prosecutors said Dante Martin was the leader on the bus where the ritual took place.

Martin has pleaded not guilty. His defense will try to argue the definition of hazing under Florida law.

Circuit Judge Renee A. Roche ruled Tuesday that testimony during the trial will mostly be about the specific hazing that happened on the night of Champion's death, and not prior hazing incidents among the Marching 100.

Prosecutors say Champion died from internally bleeding caused by that ritual after the Florida Classic football game in November 2011. Ashton warned jurors they would see photos of Champion's fatal injuries.

The defense started their opening argument by saying the Marching 100 band is a national treasure, and painted a picture of band members showing leadership and dedication. Martin's attorney said the band's bus was really a "fancy motor coach," and not everyone in the band's percussion section had participated in the "crossing" ritual.

Champion's family began their day Tuesday with a moment of silence outside the Orange County Courthouse.

"I know that he was known as the 'example' within the band," Robert's mother, Pam Champion, said outside the Orange County Courthouse. "I found his hat, and inside the brim of his hat is etched the words, 'The Example.' So, I carry this hat with me, as I carry the bracelet that he bought me for one Mother's Day, just to have something to get me through this court."

Judge Roche said she expects Martin's trial to last about a week.