A Bronx man who has been languishing in jail for five years is finally getting his day in court.

Judge Peter Benitez began hearing evidence Friday in the second-degree murder case of Michael Ikoli, after Bronx Administrative Judge Efrain Alvarado ordered lawyers on both sides to get the trial underway.

The Daily News recently reported on a backlog of felony cases in the Bronx court system, highlighting the plight of Ikoli, who was charged in 2004 when he was 17.

Ikoli, now 22, is accused of being outside a roller-skating rink on Thanksgiving 2004 with Christopher Clinton, a 15-year-old friend, when Clinton pulled out a gun and shot two people, killing one.

Ikoli said he pulled out an unloaded gun to scare the crowd.

Benitez gave prosecutors and lawyers for Ikoli and Clinton a blistering warning Friday as they suggested there might be more delays during a bench conference.

"I'm not sympathetic with any of you," he told the lawyers, adding the case takes precedence over all others.

Friday's hearing featured a videotaped statement Ikoli made to prosecutors five years ago, admitting to having the unloaded gun but denying he knew Clinton had a loaded gun.

The hearings will continue next week

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