DURHAM -- Witnesses are now taking the stand in the Crystal Mangum arson trial in a Durham courthouse. Mangum is the woman who Attorney General Roy Cooper said falsely accused three members of the Duke lacrosse team of raping her.

Along with first degree arson, Mangum faces three charges of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, injury to personal property and resisting a public officer for a Feb. 17 incident.

Mangum was in a bright yellow sweater taking notes as opening arguments began. Prosecutor Mark McCullough told the jury that all they'll have to do is listen to the evidence. He said officers responded to a domestic dispute call at 2220 Lincoln St. in Durham. He said there Mangum was uncooperative, tried to stab her then boyfriend Milton Walker, and set clothes in a bathtub on fire when officers and her three children, ages 10, 9 and 3, were all inside.

"She set a fire in a dwelling which was occupied by her own children and where her boyfriend lived with her," said Mark McCullough, the prosecutor, said.

Defense Attorney Mani Dexter said there are two sides to every story. She said Mangum told Hillary Thompson, the first officer to arrive at the scene, she had a fight with her boyfriend and didn't need any help. Another officer also arrived at the scene and that is when Walker, who had left the home, returned. Dexter said that officer allowed Walker inside the home.

"He decides to bring Milton Walker into the home and when he does so the kids run and panic to the back of the home and Crystal reacts," said Dexter.

Dexter said Mangum also had a procedure done the day before where she was given a considerable amount of morphine. Thompson, who was the first to take the stand, said Mangum mentioned her procedure when the officers were struggling to arrest her.

"She said she had had a procedure and our response was I remember, 'stop resisting,'" Thompson said.

The trial is expected to last at least a week.