A court martial began Monday for a soldier from Glace Bay, N.S., charged in the death of a friend while on duty in Afghanistan in 2007.

Cpl. Matthew Wilcox, 23, wore his full-service dress uniform as he marched into the courtroom in the Sydney Garrison, at Victoria Park in Sydney.

Wilcox is charged in the March 2007 death of Cpl. Kevin Megeney, 25, of Stellarton, N.S., while on duty at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. Megeney died from a gunshot wound to his chest while in a tent he shared with Wilcox.

Both men were reservists serving in different battalions of the Nova Scotia Highlanders.

At the time, military officials said the shooting was accidental. However, military investigators charged Wilcox in October 2007.

Wilcox is charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death and negligently performing a duty in failing to take proper precautions while handling a weapon.

Wilcox could face life in prison if convicted of manslaughter.

On friendly ground

Wilcox's commanding officer, Lt.-Col. Joseph Gillis, said he is glad Wilcox's court martial is taking place where he has friends.

"The venue here, the garrison, pleases me because he is a soldier, a good soldier of this garrison and he's with people that he is confident to be around," Gillis told CBC News on Monday.

Unlike a civilian court, Wilcox will not have the right to elect a trial by judge and jury. Instead, his case will be heard by a judge and a panel.

'The panel is not a group of your peers," said Lt.-Cmdr. Robert Fetterley, the prosecutor in the case. "It's other military officers and non-commissioned officers who sit like a jury," he said.

Wilcox will be back before the military judge, Cmdr. P.J. Lamont, several times in January, February and May.

The actual trial, expected to take up to five weeks with its full panel, will not begin until June 1, 2009.