It appears the Browns will focus on an aborted attempt to arrest the couple earlier that month. Dozens of federal and local law enforcement agents swarmed around the property in tanks, helicopters and patrol cars, and a Brown supporter who encountered a hidden team of marshals was apprehended and questioned. That supporter, who was recently sentenced to 36 years in prison for his participation in the standoff, is currently listed as a possible prosecution witness.

"Now that we knew they were intent on killing us, we began to accept the offers of munitions in various places, in order that we may be able to defend ourselves," the Browns wrote in a recent 38-page appellate filing, titled "Saga of Edward and Elaine." "We knew conflict was imminent."

In one recent filing, Bjorn Lange, Elaine Brown's lawyer, asked the court to allow her to argue that "she came to believe that she faced serious bodily injury or death from officers and agents of the government," and her subsequent possession of firearms was "justified by a well-founded fear that the government was prepared to use excessive, unlawful force against her."

Ed Brown's lawyer has filed motions making similar arguments.

The Browns' cooperation with lawyers is new. Since their arraignments in February, they have filed repeated motions with the court challenging its authority, questioning the ethics of the U.S. attorney and demanding to be freed in exchange for promised bonds allegedly worth billions of dollars. They told the judge that they did not wish to attend their trial, rejected their court-appointed attorneys and refused to accept any prosecution discovery materials. But this month, after Judge George Singal described their legal strategy as "almost a suicide pact," they reversed course and agreed to allow Iacopino and Lange to help them.

Jury selection will involve about 230 possible jurors, nearly triple the usual number for a trial with two defendants, the court's clerk said. The large jury pool was arranged because of the heightened publicity surrounding the case and the large number of witnesses, he said.

The trial is expected to run 10 days and will begin Tuesday with summary testimony by U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier, who oversaw the investigation, a prosecution filing says. Monier won a national award from the U.S. Department of Justice for his handling of the case.

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