Cook County Commissioner William Beavers’ corruption trial got off to a slow start Monday.

Beavers and his attorneys appeared in court to go over some last minute details of the case. Some of the discussion was about jury selection, which now is scheduled to start Tuesday. Prosecutors also said they intend to bring up the commissioner’s 2005 tax returns in their opening statements.

Judge James Zagel says he wants the jury to be anonymous until after the verdict because of the media attention.

After the hearing, Beavers told reporters he wants to testify because prosecutors quote “tell some tall tales” and he wants to straighten them out.

“The problem here is you all think the government is so smart, that they can defeat everybody,” Beavers said. “Their thing is if you plead guilty. They try their best to get you to plead guilty. They don’t win that many cases. They get people to plea. I’m not pleading.”

Beavers is charged with not paying taxes on campaign funds that he allegedly used for personal expenses.