Lee's capital murder sentencing expected to finish

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - UPDATE 6/19 5: 30pm: The Jury could not reach a sentencing recommendation Tuesday. Court will convene again Wednesday morning and diliberations will continue.

UPDATE 6/19 3:30 p.m.: Witness testimony has finished, and the jury is meeting to decide whether Lee should face life without parole or the death penalty.

The sentencing phase is expected to end Tuesday in the capital murder trial of Michael Lee.

After hearing from character witnesses, the jury will decide whether Lee will face the death penalty or life without parole.

Prosecutor Jo Beth Murphree said 10 jurors will have to agree to issue the death penalty and seven will have to agree for life without parole.

Saturday, the jury found Lee guilty of capital murder for the 2010 death of 23-year-old Kyser Miree.

Prosecutors say Lee and three other men forced their way into Miree's home and shot him in the head during an attempted robbery.

Monday, witnesses, including his mother and father, spoke on Miree's life and their memories of him. A clinical psychologist talked about the conditions Lee dealt with growing up and how those may have affected him.

Tuesday, the defense called Lee's mother, Felicia Lee, to testify.

Lee spoke about the close relationship she shares with her son Michael.

She testified that when Michael was 10, she suffered severe complications from surgery, and she said Michael would never leave her bedside. She said when she healed and was ready for work, Michael didn't want her to go. She recalled Michael said, "You're gonna leave me like my father."

Felicia Lee teared up as she said that she constantly thinks about Michael.

She said, "It hurts so bad. All the time. I can't sleep. When he calls, I break down and cry. He says, 'Momma, please be strong.'"

Defense Attorney Art Powell asked Felicia if she understood the punishments that Michael faces, and she cried as she nodded yes.

Felicia Lee said her children are sad over the verdict, and she said, " I don't really think that my son killed nobody."

She made a tearful plea to the jury: "Please, don't take my son's life."

When asked how she would react to the death penalty she said, "It would hurt me bad. I don't know that I'll be able to take it."

Cross Examination

In cross examination, Prosecutor Jill Phillips emphasized that Felicia did everything she could for her son: given him a home, clothes, and teaching him right from wrong.

Phillips asked, "None of your other children have killed anyone, have they?"

Felicia said, "No."

Closing Arguments

In closing arguments, Defense Attorney Glenn Davidson spoke about Monday's testimony with Dr. Marianne Rosenzweig. 

"The purpose was not to give an excuse," said Davidson. "It was to explain who he is, and how he got that way."

Davidson spoke of how we are all products of our environment and upbringing, and he asked the jury to consider mercy.

In a rebuttal, Prosecutor Jo Beth Murphree asked, "What kind of mercy did that man show Kyser?"

Then Murphree pulled out a photograph of the crime scene, showing Miree lying in a pool of blood.

"That's the mercy," Murphree said.