GREENSBORO, N.C. – After years of investigation, denials and delays, jury selection began Thursday for the criminal trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards.

Edwards sat at the defense table as about 180 potential jurors filed into a Greensboro, N.C., courtroom. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Eagles then asked Edwards to stand and face them. He grinned and nodded as the judge introduced him.

The trial had been scheduled to begin in late January, but was delayed after Edwards' lawyers told the judge he had a serious heart problem that required treatment. Compared with the quick-smiling candidate of four years ago, the former U.S. senator, now 58, appeared slightly gaunt in the cheeks but still had no trace of gray in his carefully parted hair.