Miami's top prosecutor had previously said the former football great and actor is unlikely to face jail time over the alleged road rage incident. When charges were filed in December, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle had said anger-control counseling was the expected punishment upon a conviction.

The felony auto burglary and misdemeanor battery charges carry a maximum 16-year prison term. "We do in fact intend to seek a sentence within that sentencing range," Assistant State Attorney Paul Mendelson said Tuesday.

Defense attorney Yale Galanter responded that Simpson "is well aware of" the range of possible outcomes.

The trial stems from an angry encounter with another motorist in his suburban Miami neighborhood. Simpson was accused of scratching motorist Jeffrey Pattinson's face while pulling off Pattinson's glasses.

"Another day in paradise," Simpson said as he entered court for jury selection.

Simpson's courtroom past quickly became the focus of jury selection. Simpson was cleared by a jury in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and her friend. A civil jury later found him liable and he was ordered to pay $33.5 million.

The first jury candidate said she did not think she "would be a fair juror" because charges in both states involved violent behavior. Jury selection was expected to take two to four weeks for less than two days of testimony.

Simpson's attorney said that before the Dec. 4 encounter, Pattinson tailgated Simpson for a distance equivalent to "over half of a football field."

"That's a long way to be honking your horn and flashing your lights," Galanter said. "That just doesn't impress me as the act of a man who's cool, calm and collected."

Pattinson says he honked and flashed his lights when Simpson's sport utility vehicle rolled through a stop sign. Simpson stopped and approached Pattinson's SUV, and allegedly reached in and pulled off his glasses.

"This is an incident that took place in at most 30 seconds, and there were two people there," Galanter said. He believes Simpson "is being unfairly targeted as a result of his celebrity status and notoriety."