On one side of a Baltimore courtroom, Dontee Stokes is portrayed as a man sexually abused by his Catholic priest and who should not be held responsible for his crime. On the other, he is labeled an ill-tempered, violent person who shot a clergyman in May for disrespecting him.

Those two depictions, presented by the defense and the prosecution during the first tension-filled hours of Stokes' attempted-murder trial yesterday, are at the heart of a case that has attracted national attention for its legal twists and its focus on clerical abuse.

The prosecution and the defense agree that Stokes, 26, shot the Rev. Maurice J. Blackwell, 56, three times at close range May 13 in front of the priest's Reservoir Hill home. In dispute is why he did it, and whether he should go to prison for the crime.

Stokes claims he was raped by Blackwell more than a decade ago and shot him because the priest refused to apologize.

"We're not here to decide whether Dontee shot Maurice Blackwell, we're here to decide what was in his head when he did it," Warren A. Brown, Stokes' lawyer, said in his opening statement. "When he did it, he said, 'I was outside of myself looking down.' He was suffering from a mental disorder."

But prosecutor Sylvester Cox told the Circuit Court jury -- which is made up of 11 women and one man -- that Stokes needs to be held accountable. Stokes shot Blackwell because he felt "disrespected," Cox said, when the priest refused to speak with him on the night of the shooting.

"Maurice Blackwell wasn't smacking him around, there was no fight at the time Maurice Blackwell was shot," Cox said. "What's Dontee Stokes' defense? There is no defense. Dontee Stokes was disrespected. He got dissed."

Cox also alluded to Baltimore's spiraling street violence, calling the shooting "something that normally happens in the city."

As the trial unfolds, the state and the defense are expected to introduce conflicting doctors' analyses of Stokes' mental state at the time of the crime. Before the trial started, the prosecution tried unsuccessfully to block the defense from introducing one of Stokes' health reports.

Cox also tried unsuccessfully to prevent Brown from introducing into evidence part of the police report of the shooting. The prosecutor argued in a motion before Judge John N. Prevas that it was not relevant for the jury to know that on the night of the shooting, Stokes told police that Blackwell sexually abused him years ago.

According to statements Stokes made to police, Stokes drove by Blackwell's Reservoir Hill rowhouse about 6 p.m., called the priest over to his car and demanded an apology for the alleged abuse. When Blackwell refused, Stokes shot him in the left hand, left hip and left side of his abdomen with a .357-caliber Magnum, according to the report. The wounds were not fatal.

Brown offered graphic depictions of the abuse alleged by Stokes, prefacing the descriptions with the phrase, "In the name of God." Some of the jurors appeared surprised at the explicit language Brown used.

Cox tried to stop Brown with several loud objections, which were overruled by Prevas.

"The genesis of this goes back a decade, when Dontee endured sexual abuse day after day, week after week, year after year," Brown said. "Dontee dropped out of school, hides in the basement, doesn't go to his prom, doesn't play on the varsity football team."

Stokes came forward in 1993 to report Blackwell's alleged abuses, but prosecutors were unable to verify his account and no charges were filed.

At the time, Blackwell's congregation, St. Edward Roman Catholic Church in West Baltimore, supported the priest. Blackwell was removed from the church for 90 days, sent to a clinic for child abusers, and later reinstated by Cardinal William H. Keeler. Keeler is expected to be called as a witness this week.

Brown has said he will try to shift the blame for the crime away from Stokes and onto the church, the state's attorney's office and Blackwell.

"We don't mind taking responsibility for what we do, but there's a lot of responsibility to go around," Brown said. "The Catholic church did nothing more than slap Maurice Blackwell on the hand and send him back in the 'hood. They told him, 'Just don't touch any boys.'"

Stokes, a career barber who is being held under house arrest, is charged with nine criminal counts, including attempted murder.

Before opening statements, lawyers spent a good part of the day selecting a jury. Brown said he wanted a mostly female jury because he believes women will be more sympathetic to Stokes than men. During the process, Brown asked the judge to dismiss several prospective male jurors.

Once the trial started, the prosecution called two witnesses: Theodore Parris, an officer who responded to the shooting, and Timothy McLaurin, Blackwell's cousin who was nearby at the time of the shooting. Both helped establish the crime scene for the jury.

The courtroom was crowded with Stokes' family, supporters, news media and other onlookers. Stokes' mother, Tamara Stokes, cried intermittently.

At the end of the day, however, she said she was pleased with the trial's beginning.

"It's in God's hands," she said.

The trial resumes today, when the state is expected to call more witnesses.