Jury selection for Micheal Lee, charged in Miree murder begins

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Jury selection started Tuesday in the capital murder trial of Michael Lee.

This was the very beginning of the jury selection process. More than 100 people filled out questionnaires so that attorneys can eventually seat a jury.

Prosecutors say Lee was the gunman who shot and killed 23-year-old Kyser Miree inside his midtown home in 2010. He and three others are accused of forcing their way into Miree's home, and authorities say Michael Lee shot him in the head.

Lee, Bo Taylor, Earnest Wiggins and Jamal Lang are all accused of capital murder. Lee will be tried first and his capital murder trial will soon be underway.

Potential jurors were handed out questionnaires that asked them about their age, their job and their families. Attorneys now have them time to study them.

Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said it takes about a day to review the questionnaires. After that, the process goes into general voir dire, the first step of three.

Rich said, "General voir dire is where they're all in one room and we ask them questions of the panel in its entirety and then, after that, if we want to have any follow up questions, we do what's called 'individual voir dire'. It's a three step process typically in capital cases."

So, on Thursday, the group of potential jurors will be brought into the ceremonial courtroom at Government Plaza, where they'll be questioned some more.

Rich says, "We want to be thorough. And we want to make sure we know, get a fair opportunity to assess each individual and determine who would be best suited to try or sit as a jury member in each particular case."

District Attorney Ashley Rich said a jury probably won't be seated until Thursday or Friday.

We'll be following along on this trial every step of the way and covering it for you on air and online.