DADE CITY, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — The defense will have a chance to call its first witnesses Friday as the trial for a retired Tampa police captain, who is accused of killing a man during an argument over cellphone use in a movie theater eight years ago, enters its fifth day.

Curtis Reeves is accused of fatally shooting Chad Oulson in a Wesley Chapel movie theater during a showing of the Mark Wahlberg film “Lone Survivor” on Jan. 13, 2014.

To prosecutors, the triggering event in the argument was Oulson’s tossing of a bag of popcorn at Reeves — and that’s not enough to claim self-defense.

The defense, however, contends that Reeves, then 71, was in declining health and feared the 43-year-old, larger Oulson would punch or otherwise assault him — and may have thrown his cellphone at the older man. Defense attorney Dino Michaels said Reeves also understood risk and sensed danger from his 27 years with the Tampa Police Department.

“This isn’t about popcorn,” Michaels told the jury. “You’re going to see there was an attack before the popcorn was thrown.”

Reeves, now 79, faces a potential life sentence if convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Over the past few days, jurors have heard from other moviegoers who were in the theater.

One witness, Mark Turner, said he didn’t see Oulson punch Reeves before he was shot.

“He said, do you mind, I got a message or a text from my babysitter, I’m checking on my daughter,” Turner recalled.

A registered nurse who witnessed the shooting also testified.

“Once I saw that there was no more shooting and any type of violence occurring, I went to Chad’s side,” Derek Friedhoff said. “I noticed that Chad’s pulse started to decline.”

Nicole Oulson, the wife of Chad Oulson, was struck in the hand by the same bullet that killed her husband. She testified that the two men bickered over the cellphone dispute and at one point, Chad Oulson stood up, causing her to put her left hand near his chest to guide him back to his seat.

That’s when the shot was fired, she testified, nearly severing a finger.

“I felt like my hand was blown off,” Nicole Oulson said. “He took a couple of steps and then collapsed. I knew he was way worse than me.”

After the defense questions its witnesses, jurors will hear closing arguments and then begin deliberations.

The trial, expected to last about three weeks, is being heard by a jury of four men and two women with four alternates.

The case has been delayed for years as Reeves sought protection under Florida’s “stand your ground” law that allows use of deadly force in the face of mortal danger or fear of serious injury. Reeves has been on house arrest during most of that time.

A judge ruled against him, but Reeves appealed. Lawmakers, meanwhile, changed the law to shift the burden of proof to prosecutors, but the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the changes didn’t affect cases such as Reeves’ retroactively.

The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate WFLA contributed to this report.