By AMANDA MELILLO
VH1 is in trouble again, with a reality show contestant who is now on trial for murder.
Opening arguments began yesterday in the murder trial of Jamal Trulove, who appeared in the premiere episode of "I Love New York 2" and was quickly given the boot by Tiffany Pollard, aka New York, after fighting with another suitor.
Trulove, 29, is on trial for allegedly shooting 28-year-old Seu Kuka to death in a San Francisco housing project in July 2007.
The murder took place just two weeks after he was filmed on the show -- and it helped to identify him as the murder suspect when the witness for San Francisco prosecutors saw him when the episode aired the following October.
Trulove already had a felony conviction under his belt when he appeared on the show, and is now charged with murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Trulove is the second VH1 reality contestant who went on air with a criminal record and was later accused of murder.
Last August Ryan Jenkins, who appeared on "Megan Wants a Millionaire" and "I Love Money 3," sparked a manhunt after he dismembered his model ex-wife and left her body in a car abandoned on the beach before committing suicide.
Jenkins also had previous run-ins with the law over incidents of domestic violence.
51Minds, the production company that made all three shows, claimed it had no knowledge of Jenkins' criminal past, and the investigative firm it hired to check into contestants' backgrounds said it found nothing due to a Canadian court clerk's error.
51Minds declined comment on their screening process and whether it had knowledge of Trulove's prior felony.
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