 Judge Paul was a circuit judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida from 1973 to 1982.In 1976, Judge Paul presided over the controversial murder trial of William "Tommy" Zeigler, who was accused of a quadruple murder in his furniture store on Christmas Eve, 1975, in Winter Garden, Florida.The jury found Zeigler guilty and recommended life imprisonment, but Paul overruled the jury's recommendation of a life sentence and sentenced Zeigler to death.