UTICA - The trial has begun for two men accused of beating a Rome man to death at a party in Westmoreland last summer. The prosecution and defense delivered their opening arguments today.

On trial are Bradley Stanistreet and Kevin Stolarcyk. They are facing charges of manslaughter and gang assault. The prosecution says the two men, along with others, attacked Carl Hill on the night of August 12, and that the attack ultimately lead to his death.

Jurors heard three opening arguments today - one from the prosecution and two from the defense. Each defendant has their own lawyer, but there is only one jury hearing the case.

All three attorneys described the events they believe happened leading up to a massive fight that is said to have broken out at a house party in Camelot Village in Westmoreland.

Each shared with the jurors the types of witnesses they plan to call to the stand, and how those witnesses will help them prove the guilt or innocence of Stanistreet and Stolarcyk.

One theme that kept recurring in the opening arguments - the rivalry between the Rome and Westmoreland kids.

"All over a simple matter as one group one young people live across the border of the City of Rome and the other lived in the Town of Westmoreland and that's about it which really makes it a tragedy," said Timothy Fitzgerald, Assistant District Attorney.

On the defense side - both lawyers argued that given the time and nature of the scene when the fight broke out - it might be difficult for the prosecution to prove exactly what happened.

"Nobody is going to be able to explain to you in detail or with any degree of accuracy what was going on who was hitting who who was getting knocked down with any degree of accuracy," said Les Lewis, defense attorney for Stanistreet.

"You'll hear that some of these people if not most of them were at various levels of intoxication at this time this incident occurred between 2 and 4 in the morning and some of these people had been drinking all night," said Mark Wolber, defense attorney for Stolarcyk."So that may have impacted their ability to recall what they're going to be testifying about."

Testimony will begin Tuesday morning at 9:30. It is expected that at some point throughout the trial both defendents will be taking the stand.