Juror Details Deliberations In Murder Trial Connected To Former Bama Basketball Player

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The highly publicized capital murder trial of Michael Lynn Davis concluded Friday evening with one juror telling Patch it was an easy decision to find him guilty of the 2023 shooting death of 23-year-old Birmingham native Jamea Harris.

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Patch previously reported that the jury deliberated for roughly an hour Friday after nearly three days of hearing witness testimony and viewing extensive video evidence.

Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet sentenced Davis to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the state chose to not seek the death penalty.

"We are very happy that the jury listened to the evidence and came to the decision that they did," Chief Assistant District Attorney Paula Whitley said Friday. "With the hard work of law enforcement and ongoing commitment from the family, we are very satisfied with the outcome of this case. We believe this is partial justice for Jamea."

Indeed, the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney's Office will now turn its focus to the co-defendant in the case, former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles, who is accused of knowingly providing the .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun used by Davis in the fatal shootout with Cedric Johnson.

As Patch previously reported, Johnson shot Davis twice during the exchange of gunfire at 1:45 a.m. the morning of Jan. 15, 2023. Harris was struck once in the chin as she sat in the passenger seat of her Jeep and the forensics expert who performed her autopsy testified that she would have been killed "almost instantly."

Tuscaloosa Patch had an extensive conversation with one of the jurors in the murder trial after the verdict was handed down, on the condition the juror's identity not be revealed for the sake of privacy.

Patch reported earlier this week that the 14 jurors, including two alternates, consisted of six Black women, five White women and three White men.

While the juror did not want to provide their identity, it can be noted they are college educated, a gun owner and not a die-hard Alabama sports or college basketball fan.

During jury selection, one aspect that set this murder case apart was the pre-trial publicity, with concerns raised that there could actually be individuals trying to get on the jury instead of providing excuses for why they shouldn't be selected — something far more typical during the jury selection process.

Both sides and Judge Pruet all agreed that the 70 potential jurors called would first be given a written questionnaire as a way to get a better idea of how familiar they might be with the case.

The juror told Patch that the questionnaire asked the following: What they knew about the case; their preferred news sources; what kind of content they listen to; and could they be fair and impartial.

"Some people wanted to talk about the details," the juror said when first asked about deliberations, which began around 4 p.m. Friday. "I said [to the other jurors] 'We can go to lunch one day and talk about this stuff,' but 10 seconds is all that really mattered. You run up behind a car and shoot somebody, you can't get out of that. That's intent. Is that guy [Johnson] doing a drive-by? Probably. But it doesn't matter."

This provides interesting insight after John Robbins, the Birmingham defense attorney representing Davis, built his case on the premise that Johnson — following the verbal altercation with Davis on The Strip — armed himself, got into the driver's seat of the Jeep and went on the hunt for Davis.

A central pillar of this argument for Robbins is the fact that the Jeep can be seen on surveillance camera footage cutting its headlights off in the moments before Johnson pulled in behind parked cars owned by Alabama basketball players Brandon Miller and Jaden Bradley.

ALSO READ: Brandon Miller Testifies In Capital Murder Trial Of Michael Lynn Davis

While the possibility of self-defense was raised throughout the trial, the juror said most of the panel was ready to convict Davis of capital murder when an initial poll was taken by the jury foreman.

The jury had the options to consider capital murder, provocation manslaughter or self-defense.

"When we went in the back, there was one lady who wasn't sure but the foreman, who was good with [the guilty verdict for capital murder], took a poll," the juror said. "The Black women saw it all and were more street smart in a way and kind of got what was going on as soon as they saw it. The only chance [Robbins] had was he had a jury pool of people completely ignorant to the case he could potentially woo.

"It just wasn't that dumb of a jury," the juror added. "The district attorney having 10 women — six Black women — you can't stack it in [Davis'] favor any better. There were mamas in the group and everything but mamas can certainly go both ways on something like that. There were some soft-hearted people in that group."

It's worth noting when discussing the makeup of the jury that the two alternates who sat through the trial but were excused from deliberations — a man and a woman — were both White.

"They were hung up on things but some people were very quiet and said they were good with it," the juror said of the initial discussions.

When asked about evidence the jury questioned or thought was compelling, the juror pointed to the few seconds when Davis can be seen on video running from behind a nearby building and up to the driver's side of the Jeep.

The jury reached a consensus that Davis could have stayed in the shadows or otherwise left the area if he was truly afraid for his safety and that of his friends.

"If [Davis] is on the side of the street and a car pulled up, and they're going face-to-face, then that's a whole different conversation and a hard thing to decide," the juror said. "But he ran up there, sneaking up to the guy and swung with the gun toward the window."

There were also some initial concerns over who shot first — a notion this juror and gun owner said was easier to determine when the jury was able to view the video evidence at their own pace instead of sitting in the jury box in Judge Pruet's temporary seventh-floor courtroom.

"We would've had a hard time if we didn't have video evidence," the juror said. "But if it was my son and I had to sit up there and make a decision based on that, I don't know how I could say he didn't do it. I may love him with everything in the world but it's video evidence and pretty clear who attacked who."

While this juror said the extensive video evidence made it easy for the jury to reach its decision, it wasn't made lightly as the jury knew the sentence for a conviction was life in prison for a 23-year-old man who testified he had come to Tuscaloosa to be closer to his childhood friend Darius Miles and to "get away from Maryland."

"One woman pointed that out, about him coming to get away from Maryland, and she said 'he should've never come to Tuscaloosa in the first place,' so they knew the gravity of it," the juror said. "One girl wanted to come back on Monday and I get that there is questionable stuff but there's video evidence that makes it pretty clear, to the point I can't believe the guy [Robbins] is even trying this case. He got on my last nerves."

Indeed, likability and trustworthiness on the parts of Davis and his defense attorney were also issues considered by this jury — something that was evident on some of their faces as Robbins spoke to them or questioned witnesses. This was also despite the jury acknowledging serious concerns about Cedric Johnson's credibility.

"That attorney had no chance," the juror said. "He grasped at straws the whole time and I thought about what else could he say but then he got so long-winded [during his closing arguments]. It was only because of three women or [deliberations] would have been done well before that."

The juror also questioned the surprising strategy of letting Davis take the witness stand to deliver the final testimony of the trial.

As Patch previously reported, Davis testified that he saw Harris pass Johnson a gun during the verbal spat on The Strip and asked Miles for his gun after the group consisting of the two men and Jaden Bradley walked back down Grace Street to where Bradley had parked.

Bradley testified earlier this week that Davis was angry after the altercation with Johnson and refused to get into his car. He also said Davis wanted to go back up Grace Street and "look for the Jeep."

Davis denied this on the stand but the juror said his credibility had already been brought into serious question the day before when his interview with lead investigator Branden Culpepper at the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit was played for the jury.

The video shows Davis, who was hit once in the shoulder and grazed during the shootout, telling the investigator that he didn't know how he'd been shot, who shot him or where it occurred. He also told investigators he didn't care to find out who shot him.

Two years later on the witness stand, Davis testified that he had a fear of talking to police as a way to explain his noted lack of cooperation in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

"When [Robbins] put [Davis] on the stand, he had no chance," the juror said. "I think the defense realized this was their last Hail Mary. And I noticed that when Davis seemed to tell the truth, his voice was very soft. But when it was a rehearsed line, there was more testosterone in his voice. He's not a good liar."

"[Robbins] could not look me in the eye and I'm just like 'come on, make eye contact,' but the prosecutor [Chief Assistant District Attorney Paula Whitley] would," the juror said. "But nobody else would make eye contact with the jury. The people on the witness stand are just there to tell the truth, so I get that with some of them just looking at the attorneys asking them questions. But Brandon Miller looked at us and so did Culpepper. I thought [Culpepper] did a good job."

A court order prohibited another piece of evidence Robbins views as crucial to his argument of self-defense — a backpack recovered from the Jeep that belonged to Johnson and contained a felony amount of marijuana, a digital scale and baggies.

Robbins insisted that Johnson and Harris, both technically unemployed at the time of the shooting, were in Tuscaloosa to sell marijuana during a busy night on The Strip following Alabama basketball's blowout win over LSU.

Judge Pruet ruled that the backpack and its contents would not be discussed in front of the jury after both sides agreed the shooting was not the result of a "drug deal gone wrong."

When asked about the marijuana recovered from the Jeep, the juror said it wouldn't have mattered or changed their opinion on the verdict.

"Who gives a crap?" the juror responded. "Again, was Cedric out there trying to do a drive-by? Probably. But [Davis] approached him. So if he stays behind that building, does it even happen? You can't sneak up behind a car and shoot somebody. You just can't do that. He said he saw the gun that Cedric had but I think if he had actually seen the gun, he probably wouldn't have needed someone to physically pull him away. Most people don't keep coming at somebody all aggressive when they see they have gun, especially if they aren't armed themselves."

In contrast, Johnson testified for the very first time this week during the trial and did seem to have cooperated with investigators. However, some questionable details stood out to the jury.

"What did they say to each other?" the juror pondered when considering the verbal exchange on The Strip that prompted the fatal series of events. "Neither one of them ever said what they really said. Both of them most-likely threatened to kill each other over and over. Did they go hunting each other? Yes, it's like two packs of wild animals out there. Just the fact 'you dare say something to me?'"

Apart from jurors acknowledging what appeared to be a drive-by shooting developing in the moments before the first shot was fired, the juror speaking to Patch made note of the fact that Johnson had provided his phone to investigators with the Violent Crimes Unit.

As Patch previously reported, Investigator Culpepper testified that Johnson had given him multiple passcodes to unlock the phone but none of these worked and the phone was locked after too many failed attempts.

"His phone locking up was telling," the juror said. "Cedric, that guy is a bad dude. But it was two groups of bad dudes hunting one another. It made me rethink when I made this place my home. I'm thinking 'my kid is going to go to school here one day?' Troy and West Alabama are looking better and better. It got me thinking and reflecting about what is happening to this place."

The discussion with this juror then inevitably turned to the co-defendant in the case, former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles.

Miles is being tried separately and a trial date has not been set.

"The other part is tough because you have to ask 'did [Miles] know he was fixing to go shoot him?,'" the juror asked. "So what's gonna happen with him? Were [Davis and Miles] hunting? Probably. Did he give [Davis] the gun knowing he was going to try to shoot [Johnson]? We saw them get the girls out of the way, so that was telling, because you obviously don't want them to be standing around and watching."

The juror then brought up a detail in the video of the shooting that has also been raised by the prosecution — Miles walking by the driver's side of the Jeep on Grace Street and putting the hood of his jacket up just moments before Davis can be seen running from behind the building with a gun in his hand.

What's more, Davis testified Friday that he gave the gun back to Miles following the shooting, which was later recovered by investigators wrapped in a Gatorade towel inside a drawer in a closet at former Alabama basketball walk-on Jaden Quinerly's apartment.

"When [Miles] gives him the gun and he goes by to ID the driver, where Cedric was in the Jeep, because otherwise, there's no way to know that," the juror said, alluding to the fact Johnson had been in the back seat of the Jeep during the altercation on The Strip. "[Davis and Miles] passed each other on the video right before the shooting.

"They've been together since seventh grade and [Davis] knew right where to go," the juror added. "That's planned, cold-blooded stuff from them being friends. His best friend told [Davis] where to go, but then you think about them knowing to do that — spreading out and identifying the target in the Jeep. That's scary stuff. And then, is [Miles] hiding the gun after the fact?"

Following an exhausting week and having to process a deluge of evidence, the juror commended the District Attorney's Office and said they believe the other jurors will rest easy knowing they made the right decision to convict Davis of capital murder.

"I appreciate our DA's office," the juror said. "I feel like they did a great job. [Whitley] was really good with the jury, so to me it was cut and dry. I kept my own curiosity out of this. I was open-minded throughout the whole thing but they never could come up with anything as to why he ran up behind that vehicle and started shooting."

Ryan Phillips is an award-winning journalist, editor and opinion columnist. He is also the founder and field editor of Tuscaloosa Patch. Email news tips to ryan.phillips@patch.com.