Man charged with murder awaits verdict

MIAMI (WSVN) -- A jury is deliberating on whether or not a man is guilty of the shooting death of his ex-wife's husband.

Members of the jury walked into court Thursday morning, and received instructions from the judge. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Leon Firtel said, "To prove the crime of first degree premeditated murder as charged in count one of the indictment, the State must prove the following three elements beyond a reasonable doubt: 1) Paul Winter is dead. 2) The death was caused by the criminal act of Cristobal Palacios. 3) There was a premeditated killing of Paul Winter."

Cristobal Palacios has been charged with first degree murder in the October 2008 shooting death of Paul Winter.

The suspect's ex-wife, Jennifer Winter, testified last week that her and her new husband, Paul, dropped the couple's twins off to their father when Palacios shot Paul. "Shot, shot, shot, shot," Jennifer said during her testimony.

Palacios and his attorney claims self-defense. "We hope that they listened to the facts, they follow the law, and they come back with an acquittal on all counts," said Michael Walsh, Palacios' attorney .

Palacios showed emotions several times as the charges were read, and the judge informed the jury on what they would be deciding. "If you find Paul Winter was killed by Cristobal Palacios you would then consider the circumstances surrounding the killing and deciding if the killing was murder in the first degree or was murder in the second degree or was manslaughter or whether the killing was excusable and resulting in the justifiable use of deadly force," the judge read.

Walsh told 7News his client is a mixed bag of emotions as they await the verdict.

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