The jury in the Gustavo Olivo-Tellez murder trial had not reached a verdict by Friday evening.
Olivo-Tellez, 29, is charged with first degree murder for shooting his estranged wife, Blanca Salas, in October 2016.
The jury was dismissed for deliberations late Thursday, and returned to the Garfield County Courthouse on Friday morning.
They must determine whether the 9th District Attorney’s Office proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Olivo-Tellez planned and carried out the murder of Salas “after deliberation” and with criminal intent.
Olivo-Tellez’ attorneys did not attempt to prove his complete innocence in the shooting, but argued that intoxication mitigated the defendant’s culpability, and he committed the crime in the heat of passion after provocation from Salas.
The defense said Olivo-Tellez was intoxicated by multiple substances, including methamphetamine, and was unable to form deliberative intent for the murder. Though their relationship had been strained, Olivo-Tellez had accused Salas of infidelity at the time of the shooting, and her response incensed him in his intoxicated state to shoot her, according to the defense.
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The jury has the option to find Olivo-Tellez not guilty, or guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, homicide or manslaughter.
Saying a defendant was intoxicated “is not a legal strategy that defense attorneys come up with,” Garth McCarty, Olivo-Tellez’ lead attorney, said during closing arguments Thursday.
The prosecutors “haven’t come close to proving that the methamphetamine was not stopping him from the higher-thinking” required for deliberation, McCarty said.
Prosecutors insist Olivo-Tellez was sober when he shot Salas, and that his actions that day show method and planning, not impulsivity.
Further, Olivo-Tellez told investigators after signing a confession that he had planned to kill his wife four days before the shooting.
“Why do you admit to deciding to kill your wife four days before the murder if it’s not true?” deputy prosecuting attorney Don Nottingham said during closing arguments.
The jury is scheduled to continue deliberations Monday.