Lisa Michelle Pate of Arab, accused of the Nov. 22, 2009, shooting death of her lover, James Miller, 59, of Athens, testified Tuesday in Limestone County Circuit Court that Miller had pursued her for a full six months on their jobs with the Corps of Engineers before she, a married woman, succumbed to his advances.

She said that when she tried to break off the relationship two years later at Miller’s Athens home he became distraught and threatened her with not one, but two handguns, and she shot him in self-defense.

Pate’s testimony came after the lunch break and after Assistant Alabama Attorney General John Hensley rested the state’s case in late morning. Pate testified following her husband of 22 years, William Pate, who took the stand.

William Pate said he discovered a prepaid TracFone that his wife possessed that recorded numerous calls from James Miller. Pate said that in October 2009 he confronted Miller by phone and told him to stay away from his wife.

“He said that he (Miller) would do as he pleased,” said William Pate. “He said if I came to his house he would kill me.”

William Pate also testified that he had told his wife to dispose of a 9mm pistol she owned and he thought she had.

In opening statements Monday before Circuit Judge Bob Baker, Hensley told jurors Miller was relaxing at home when he was “unceremoniously gunned down” by 43-year- Pate at his North Jefferson Street home.

Hensley told jurors Miller had been on his couch watching television that night while his wife and youngest daughter were away on a mission trip. Hensley said Pate left her home in Arab with a loaded 9-milimeter handgun and stopped at Redstone Arsenal — where both she and Miller had worked together  — in order to dispose of a prepaid cellphone Miller had given her to prevent their spouses from knowing about their calls. Hensley said when Pate arrived at Miller’s home, an argument ensued.

“As James Miller turned to walk out the back door, she aims at the back of his head and shoots him,” Hensley told jurors. He said she fired a second shot into his abdomen.

Hensley said Pate then locked the back door, drove home, placed the gun and a 50-count box of bullets with 47 bullets remaining into a plastic bag and buried it under the wooden stairs of her porch.

Defense attorney Harlan Mitchell of Athens countered during his opening statement that Miller had threatened Pate so she shot him in self-defense.

At the time of the shooting, police said Miller was trying to break up with Pate and an argument led to the shooting.

On Monday, Miller’s nephew, Troy Carpenter, testified he saw the body of his uncle through the back door on Nov. 24 after driving to his home because the family had failed to hear from Miller for a couple of days.

While police were investigating, a neighbor showed up at Miller’s home and told an officer that Miller and Pate were having an affair, which led police to Pate’s home in Arab, Hensley said.

After initially denying she shot Miller, Pate later confessed under questioning by Athens Police officers, Hensley said.

Hensley said that although police found five guns in the home, both long and short, Miller was unarmed when he was shot. Police officers testified there was no gun near his body. 

Tuesday testimony

The defense also rested at the conclusion of Tuesday testimony. Tuesday morning jurors heard testimony from State Medical Examiner Valerie Green who said the cause of death was a wound to the back of Miller’s head and the manner of death homicide. She said the victim also received a second gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Dancy Sullivan, a firearms examiner for the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, testified the fatal shot came from a 9 mm pistol.

Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson also testified about his questioning of Pate at her home. The prosecution also played Pate’s recorded confession to the shooting that was made at Arab Police Department following two to three hours of unrecorded questioning at Pate’s home.

When Lisa Pate took the stand Tuesday afternoon, she immediately countered Hensley’s contention that it was Miller who sought to break off the love affair. She said it was she that wanted to end their relationship and he became “upset, crying and depressed.”

“He got upset and begged me to come over,” testified Lisa Pate. “He said to please not break it off.”

Pate said Miller had asked her to come to his home sometime that weekend to “spend some time with him.” She said she couldn’t “get away” on Friday or Saturday, but she drove over from Arab on Sunday.

“He was different in character than I’d ever seen him before,” said Pate. “He was disturbed, upset and said he was really depressed. He said he didn’t know where the relationship was going and he begged me not to break it off.”

Pate said Miller “held a gun on me.”

“He threatened me,” she said. “There wasn’t a moment that he didn’t have the gun on me. He said over and over that no one would have me if he couldn’t have me.”

Pate said that at one time during their emotional exchange Miller took her by the hand and led her into a bedroom where he removed a revolver from the nightstand and loaded it in front of her and then stuck the loaded gun in his waistband. She said he had another handgun and was waving it around.

“He said, ‘I know how to use this,’” Pate said.

She said she asked Miller if she could use the restroom and he told her she could if she left her cellphone on the kitchen counter. She said that when she walked out of the bathroom, “he had the gun on me all the time. I was looking down the barrel when I tried to leave. He grabbed my arm and left bruises on me.”

Pate said that at one time Miller turned his back on her.

“I saw my cellphone and wanted to get to it,” she said. “I knew he still had the revolver in his waistband.”

She said she pulled her gun from her purse. “It was the only time he didn’t have a gun on me.” She said she shot Miller in the back of the head.

When asked why she fired a second time into Miller’s stomach, she said she had seen his arm move as if reaching for the revolver in his waistband.

“I thought he was going after me,” she said.

She also said she thought Miller would go after her family next.

Under cross-examination Hensley asked Pate is she was aware that police investigators found one gun stuffed in the cushions of Miller’s couch and a revolver in his bedroom that was dusty as though it was unused. She said she was aware of the report.

Pate said her actions after the shooting were motivated by fear, which is why she didn’t call 911 to report the shooting. She also admitted going to work on Redstone Arsenal on Monday and Tuesday as usual. “I don’t think I got a lot done though,” she said.

She admitted to Hensley that she had thrown away the TracFone and buried her 9 mm under the porch so that authorities would not connect her with Miller’s shooting.

Hensley also took Pate to task over discrepancies in her confession and in her testimony, such as when during the confrontation that Miller turned his back on her to “get something from his truck” and whether she shot Miller after she emerged from the restroom or before she went in.

She denied being angry with Miller before she visited his home.

Defense attorney Harlan Mitchell called Pate’s pastor, Melvin Jacobs, and a friend, Judy Conlon to the stand as character witnesses, but both said they had no knowledge of what had occurred in Miller’s home on Nov. 22, 2009.

Attorneys are to present closing arguments beginning at 8:45 a.m. today.