One-day recess ordered at start of trial of Serb accused of attack on US student

One-day recess in US beating trial

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbian judges are postponing for a day the start of the trial of a former Serb college basketball player charged with beating an American student into a coma.

The court recessed shortly after meeting Monday to deliberate on procedural motions filed by the lawyer representing Miladin Kovacevic.

The trial already was postponed once before, in June.

Kovacevic is accused of inflicting severe bodily harm with possible deadly consequences on Bryan Steinhauer after a barroom brawl in May 2008 in upstate New York.

Kovacevic jumped bail in the U.S. and fled to Serbia, which refused to extradite him citing local laws. The case has strained U.S.-Serbia relations.