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The man charged in the shooting death of former CFL and NFL running back Joe McKnight is scheduled to go on trial in August.

A judge in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna on Monday set an Aug. 7 trial date for Ronald Gasser, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. A conviction on that charge carries a mandatory life sentence.

Authorities have said McKnight and Gasser drove erratically and yelled at each other before the Dec. 1 shooting. The confrontation took place as they were travelling over a Mississippi River bridge in New Orleans and on roads in neighbouring Jefferson Parish.

Defence attorney Gerard Archer has called the shooting a “justifiable homicide.”

McKnight played for the Edmonton Eskimos and Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2016.

Prior to joining the CFL, McKnight played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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