OAKLAND -- The defense attorney for an Oakland man's who's been convicted of four murders and more than 20 other felonies told jurors Tuesday that they should spare his life because he's not as bad as they think he is.

In her opening statement in the penalty phase of the trial of 21-year-old Demarcus Ralls, defense attorney Deborah Levy said Ralls "is not the monster I suspect you imagine he is."

Levy said Ralls' drug-addicted mother was in jail when he was born, he suffered through "an abhorrent upbringing" and he "spent his life trying to find someplace to belong."

To buttress her point, she began her opening statement by playing for jurors Billy Joel's son "And So It Goes," which she said emblematizes Ralls' "fervent wish to belong."

Levy said Ralls began committing crimes at the behest of his older half-brother, Gregory Colbert, whom she said ordered him to murder a man who was having an affair with Colbert's wife while Colbert was in prison.

Ralls feared that Colbert would kill him if he didn't follow his orders, Levy said.

She said Ralls "is worth saving" because "there is value, caring and warmth" in him.

But prosecutor Darryl Stallworth said that even though Ralls had a difficult childhood, he had options other than murdering people and "he valued his lifestyle beyond the lives of his victims and didn't care about anyone but himself."

Stallworth told jurors, "The ultimate crimes require that you impose the ultimate punishment and that is death."

Jurors convicted Ralls last week of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, 17 counts of robbery, one count of kidnapping and one count of shooting into an inhabited dwelling.

Ralls was one of a group of six people who called themselves the "Nut Cases" because authorities said they engaged in the crime spree that terrorized Oakland over a six-week period in late 2002 and early 2003 mainly for thrills. Some members of the group sported tattoos of the Planters "Mr. Peanut" logo.

Ralls is the first of the "Nut Case" defendants to be prosecuted and the other five are expected to be tried later this year and next year.

At the conclusion of the penalty phase, which begins Tuesday, the same jurors will choose between recommending either the death penalty or life in prison without parole. The penalty phase is expected to last two weeks.