Jurors in the Christie Michelle Scott capital murder trial could begin their deliberations Monday afternoon.

Scott, 30, is accused of starting a fire at her home Aug. 16 that killed her 6-year-old son, Mason.

The trial will resume Monday morning with jurors hearing closing arguments by attorneys and instructions from Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Terry Dempsey. If time permits, they will then begin deliberations.

The trial started June 8.

Before defense attorneys rested their case at 11:25 a.m. Thursday, Scott spent almost three hours being questioned by District Attorney Joey Rushing. Scott had testified for more than two hours Wednesday while being questioned by lead defense attorney Robert Tuten, of Huntsville.

Scott testified Wednesday that when she awoke to discover her home was on fire, she attempted to rescue her son, who was sleeping in his bedroom down the hall. Scott said the hall was filled with smoke and she could not reach her son's bedroom.

On Thursday, Rushing asked Scott why she did not try to rescue her son by going through the computer room across the hall from her bedroom and then using a hallway that connected it with the children's room.

"The smoke was pretty bad," Scott replied.

Rushing used a diagram to show the route Scott could have used.

"Did you not want to rescue Mason?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," Scott responded.

Scott's testimony Thursday attracted more than 100 spectators.

Prosecutors contend that Scott, 30, started a fire at her Signore Drive home to collect $175,000 in life insurance. This included a $100,000 policy she purchased about 12 hours before Mason died. Local, state and federal fire investigators who testified for the prosecution said they determined the fire started on or around a bed used by Scott's then 4-year-old son, Noah. The boys shared a bedroom, although Noah spent the night in his mother's bed.

Fire investigators hired by the defense testified the fire was accidental. During her testimony Wednesday, Scott denied starting the fire, as tears streamed down her face.

Rushing began his cross-examination by asking Scott how much time she spent with defense attorneys practicing her testimony.

She said she talked to Tuten about her testimony, but he did not tell her what she should say.

"What I said yesterday was from my heart," she said Thursday.

Unlike Wednesday, when she cried frequently while being questioned by Tuten, Scott showed little emotion Thursday.

At times, she responded to questions from Rushing by asking him what he would have done had he been in a similar situation.

At one point during Rushing's questioning, Scott told him he was being impolite. "You are taking stuff so out of context and being so rude to me right now," she said.

Rushing did not respond and continued to pepper her with questions.

Scott had testified Wednesday that after being turned away by the smoke and heat while attempting to rescue Mason, she and Noah escaped through her bedroom window.

When Rushing displayed a photograph of the window they escaped through and pointed out the blind had been raised to an almost perfectly level position before they made their escape, he asked how she had time to raise the blind in her haste to exit the burning home.

"I just pulled it up," she said. "The cords were together."

Rushing also asked why she did not use a telephone that was shown in the photograph on a table beside the window to call 911 rather than going to a neighbor's home and asking them to report the fire.

Scott replied that she never used that telephone.

He also asked why she did not use a cell phone she had in her pocket as she escaped.

"You had time to raise the blinds to a perfect level but you didn't have time to use that phone or the one in your pocket to call 911?" Rushing asked.

"I didn't know the phone was in my pocket," she replied.

Rushing asked Scott about her testimony on Wednesday that she had attempted to open the garage doors on the burning home by using a key pad as a neighbor helped her search for way to get inside and rescue Mason. Scott had told jurors she attempted to use the key pad six times, but her fingers were trembling so bad she kept hitting the wrong keys. She also said her neighbor, Brian Copeland, attempted to use the key pad twice.

Rushing asked Scott if she is positive Copeland attempted to open the garage doors with the key pad.

"I saw him with my own two eyes," she replied.

After Scott's testimony, Rushing called Copeland as a rebuttal witness.

Copeland testified that he never attempted to use the key pad nor did he see Scott use it.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.