State Sen. Robert Regola III, fighting for his political life in his perjury trial, was alternately portrayed yesterday as a reckless man or a victim of tragic circumstances.

Not in dispute is that a 14-year-old neighbor named Louis Farrell took the senator's 9 mm pistol from his bedroom, then used it to kill himself with a bullet to the head in July 2006.

Mr. Regola had asked Louie, as the boy was called, to feed and water his dogs on a Friday while he and his wife were in Harrisburg, where the senator was receiving an award from law officers. Instead, Louie evidently found Mr. Regola's handgun after sifting through the house.

Mr. Regola's son, Bobby, arrived home to find the house in disarray and the pistol missing. He phoned his father, but Mr. Regola did not call police or Louie's parents, Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said in his opening statement.

Rather, he told jurors, the senator showed "a stunning lack of concern, a wholehearted indifference" to Louie having the gun.

Several hours later, after Louie's body was found near a stand of pine trees, state troopers interviewed the senator. They said he told them he had kept the handgun in his son's room but had moved it to his own room because he feared a prowler was in the neighborhood. Seven months later, at a coroner's inquest into Louie's death, Mr. Regola testified he had never stored the pistol in his son's room. This led to the perjury charge.

Mr. Regola, R-Hempfield, also was charged with false swearing, which is a lesser crime than perjury, reckless endangerment and providing a firearm to a minor. A 45-year-old senator in his first term, he could be removed from office if he is convicted of the perjury or firearms charge. Both are felonies.

Defense lawyer Charles Porter used his opening statement to denigrate the state's case as one of politics, not law or reason.

"This case is not about the case of Louis Farrell. This case is about the commonwealth's desire to control guns," Mr. Porter said.

He called Louie's death a tragedy, but said not every sad case involving a handgun is a crime.

Mr. Porter said convicting the senator would not be justified and would do nothing to bring back Louie.

He spent much of the day trying to poke holes in the testimony of state troopers who interviewed Mr. Regola. He accused them of writing inaccurate reports, then destroying their original notes.

One of the officers, Cpl. Jarred Slater, admitted he took no notes while interviewing the senator but said he jotted down the gist of the session soon after it ended.

He said he was certain that Mr. Regola had told him that he once kept the pistol in Bobby's room. This could mean he provided a firearm to a minor.

Michael Stunja, 16, Louie's best friend, testified that Bobby Regola once showed him the 9 mm pistol when he kept it in his room. He said he never heard Louie talk about that incident, a statement that contradicted previous testimony he gave at the inquest and the hearing.

Mr. Porter aggressively cross-examined Michael, bringing him to tears on two occasions.

"Every time you talk about this you say something a little bit differently, don't you?" the attorney said.

Michael, backed into a corner, replied, "Obviously. You just pointed that out."

But he stuck to his basic story that he had seen the handgun in Bobby Regola's room.

He also got in a jab of his own when Mr. Porter asked him how often he had talked to the Farrell family's civil lawyer about suing the Regolas.

"Never," Michael said curtly.

Prosecutors will continue calling their witnesses today. Mr. Regola's lawyers made a point of telling jurors they could not hold it against the senator if he does not take the witness stand when the defense gets its turn.