ATLANTA — Almost two years after a judge, a court reporter and a sheriff’s deputy were shot to death at the Fulton County Courthouse, Brian Gene Nichols will stand trial in that courthouse for those crimes.

As TV cameras roll, the justice system will be on trial, too.

After a blitz of news coverage of a nearly 26-hour manhunt for Mr. Nichols, some legal experts question whether a fair trial is possible in the courthouse where the attacks took place — particularly when the case is prosecuted by former colleagues of the slain judge and court reporter.

“I would be concerned, real concerned, if I were his defense attorney,” said Thomas Maher, executive director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in North Carolina. “The jurors may have a tough time separating themselves from the people in the case. Sitting in the same courthouse, that’s difficult.”

On March 11, 2005, Mr. Nichols was headed to trial to face rape charges and a possible life sentence when, officials say, he overpowered a deputy, stole her gun, and opened fire in the courtroom. Officials mounted the largest hunt for a fugitive in Georgia’s history, and Mr. Nichols was apprehended at the home of a hostage, Ashley Smith, a waitress and born-again Christian, who persuaded him to surrender and then wrote a book about her ordeal.

In a 54-count indictment, Mr. Nichols is accused of murdering Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau inside the courtroom, sheriff’s deputy Hoyt Teasley outside the courthouse, and Customs agent David Wilhelm at his Northeast Atlanta home. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Mr. Nichols, now 35.

For most Atlanta residents, the facts of the case appear clear-cut: Several people witnessed the shootings in the courtroom; a surveillance camera in a parking garage captured Mr. Nichols fleeing the crime scene, and Mr. Nichols is alleged to have confessed to Ms. Smith, and then to police.

“So many people are aware of what happened, it’s as if it’s almost an open-and-shut case,” said Andrew Sheldon, an Atlanta-based jury consultant.

Already, attorneys have sparred at a series of pretrial hearings and filed more than 80 pretrial motions. The defense team has attempted to prohibit the use of the death penalty and to throw out identification by some eyewitnesses. It also has argued that live television coverage threatens Mr. Nichols’s right to a fair trial and repeatedly sought to delay the trial, claiming attorneys need more time to prepare.

The trial, set to open Thursday, is almost certain to become one of the longest and most scrutinized death-penalty trials in Georgia. Judge Hilton Fuller, a DeKalb County Superior Court Judge who was appointed to the case after all members of the Fulton County bench recused themselves because of their connection to the victims, has allocated three months for the jury selection process, and county officials have sent out 3,500 summonses to prospective jurors.

“This is not going to be one of those ‘What the heck, judge, everyone saw him do it’ cases,” said Ronald Carlson, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law.

Judge Fuller has assigned three extra attorneys to the case, and Mr. Nichols’s defense has cost more than $500,000.

“This is the most expensive death-penalty case in the history of Georgia,” said Michael Mears, director of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, which is paying for the three additional attorneys

Despite concerns about holding the case in the same courthouse, Mr. Nichols’s defense team does not want to risk a trial outside Fulton County: Jurors in the county have tended to reject demands for the death penalty.