PONTIAC - A jury chosen Wednesday to hear the case of a Pontiac Township High School student accused of planning to buy guns from another student at the school may be told about a previous gun sale.

Martin Huerta Jr., 15, of Saunemin, faces a dozen felony weapons possession charges and a drug possession charge as the result of an Aug. 28 incident at the school. Huerta is accused of planning to buy six handguns from a fellow student, but authorities locked down the school after another student reported seeing the guns on a school bus.

Defense attorney Nichole Patton of Matteson asked Livingston County Circuit Judge Harold Frobish to prevent the prosecution to mention reports of a previous gun sale earlier this year. Details on that previous act remain unclear, but Huerta was not charged in that incident.

First Assistant State's Attorney Carey Luckman said the previous case shows a history of a prior relationship between the two students charged in the Aug. 28 incident.

Patton noted Huerta was never charged and said introducing that incident would be unfair.

"This would just be used to bolster the probability that (Huerta) would participate in a transaction that actually did not happen," Patton said. "The state is trying to have their cake and eat it too."

After further discussion, Frobish granted the motion but said that it would be revisited again this morning for further discussion.

Huerta is accused to trying to buy the guns from Sean Sullivan, 16, of Odell, who faces the same 12 weapons charges in the case.

Authorities have said Sullivan stole the weapons from home and carried them in a book bag on a school bus on Aug. 28. Another student saw the guns and told a police officer at the school, authorities said.

The report led to a 3½-hour lockdown and search of the school. The guns were found in Sullivan's locker, police said.

Prosecutors say Huerta and Sullivan each face six counts of unlawful possession of a weapon for bringing the guns onto a bus and another six for bringing the guns into the school.

Frobish said clarified to jurors that the charges say Huerta was accountable and criminally responsible for knowing that the weapons would be brought to the school, not that he brought the guns to school.

Huerta is also facing one charge of possession of a controlled substance after an eighth of an ounce of cocaine was found in a police search of his home. Sullivan told police Huerta offered to buy one of the guns with cocaine.

A full jury panel was chosen Wednesday, and testimony will begin today. The trial is expected to conclude Friday.

Some potential jurors were dismissed due to prior relationships with witnesses, and others said they may not be able to make an unbiased decision because they have children in the school. Luckman stressed jurors need to be able to make a decision and be comfortable with that role.

"The role of a juror is to be judges of the facts … and you need to be able to be comfortable with that as a decision maker," he said. "You need to give each witness the same level of attention and bring common sense with you."

A third teen charged as a juvenile with handling one of the guns was acquitted in September.

Sullivan, who is scheduled to testify against Huerta, is scheduled to return to court Nov. 21.

Sullivan and Huerta remained in custody at the McLean County Juvenile Detention Center.