DALLAS (AP) — Attorneys defending the leader of a gang of escaped prisoners face an uphill task — trying to save the life of a convicted killer who's been depicted as a career criminal and child sex offender.

George Rivas, 31, was convicted of capital murder Tuesday for killing police Officer Aubrey Hawkins of Irving, Texas, during a Christmas Eve robbery of a sporting goods store. Jurors, who have been hearing testimony since Wednesday, must decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or death by injection.

The defense was scheduled to begin making its case Monday.

Rivas has admitted leading a group of seven felons who rroke out of the Connally Unit in south Texas on Dec. 13 and evaded police for six weeks.

Rivas and three other escaped convicts were arrested Jan. 22 in Colorado. One killed himself before being caught and the last two surrendered Jan. 24.

Rivas' murder case was the first to go to trial.

In some of last week's most compelling testimony, a tearful relative told jurors Thursday that Rivas sexually abused her for 10 years, starting when she was 6. The 26-year-old woman said he cegan having sex with her when she was 12.

She came forward with the allegations after the prison break.

"When he got out, I was afraid. I was just afraid of him looking for me," she said, sobbing.

Prosecutors have worked their way through Rivas' extensive criminal history, which dates to 1988, calling dozens of previous robbery victims to the stand.

When he escaped last year, Rivas was serving 17 life sentences for armed robbery and kidnapping stemming from holdups in El Paso in 1993.

RadioShack manager Mary Berry's voice wavered as she told jurors how Rivas and the six other escaped convicts tied her up with rope and placed her with other hostages in a back room.

"I looked in his eyes and I knew. The cold, hard look in his eyes told me if somebody moved wrong he would kill us," Berry said.

During cross-examination, Rivas' attorneys have focused on any courtesies Rivas extended to his victims. For example, when hostages were taken during the prison escape, Rivas left them ice water, and he alerted police to one of his robberies so the victims would be freed.

During the portion of the trial before Rivas' conviction, defense attorneys argued he didn't intend to kill Hawkins, just to disarm him by shooting him in the shoulders.