Judge allows Donna Adelson Vietnam flight argument

August 31, 2024 Vaseline blog 0

Judge allows Donna Adelson Vietnam flight argument

The judge presiding over the upcoming murder trial of Donna Adelson denied a request by her defense to prevent prosecutors from arguing that her attempted flight to Vietnam showed she had “consciousness of guilt” in the murder of Dan Markel.

Adelson appeared in person Friday at the Leon County Courthouse for arguments before Circuit Judge Stephen Everett on a flurry of pre-trial motions from the defense and the state. Jury selection begins Sept. 16 in the trial, with testimony starting on or before Sept. 23.

The 74-year-old matriarch of the Adelson family is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation in the 2014 murder-for-hire killing of Markel, her former son-in-law, in the garage of his Betton Hills home . The fifth person to be charged in the murder plot, Adelson was arrested one week after her son, Charlie Adelson, was convicted on the same three charges she now faces.

She was taken into custody by the FBI as she and her husband tried to board a flight out of Miami with one-way tickets to Vietnam, a non-extradition country. Prosecutors then signaled that they intended to use it against her at trial.

During Friday’s hearing, Dan Rashbaum, a Miami attorney representing Adelson along with Robert “Alex” Morris of Tallahassee, said he anticipated his attempted flight to be one of the state’s “prime arguments.” But he said it shouldn’t be because it’s a “red herring.”

Rashbaum told Everett, the presiding judge in both of the Adelsons prosecutions, that she applied for a Visa with the State Department, used her own passport and talked to her lawyers about it “to make sure she wasn’t committing a crime.”

“You’re going to see that she didn’t hide her travel,” Rashbaum said in a likely preview of the defense’s case.

Under questioning from Everett, Rashbaum concedes that flight doesn’t have to be surprising. He also acknowledged there were internet searches and research about countries that don’t have extradition treaties with the US

“There’s explanations for that also as to why that doesn’t show that they’re going to become fugitives,” said Rashbaum, who struggled to conjure the name of Harrison Ford, star of “The Fugitive” movie, until Everett interjected. “Yeah, Harrison Ford running around Southeast Asia for the rest of their lives.”

But Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman told Everett that there was evidence showing she wasn’t simply going on a vacation and that the trip was “something else.”

“She got an urgent, emergency visa and bought a one-way ticket to what she had investigated to be a non-extradition country,” Cappleman said. “Anything that the defense wants to argue and the facts that they’ve pointed out are fair game for cross-examination, they are free to elicit those and we can have a dispute and let the jury decide what the evidence shows.”

In other rulings, Everett denied a defense request to move the trial from Courtroom 3G, where Charlie Adelson was tried and convicted, to the much smaller Courtroom 3B. Morris told Everett the request wasn’t designed to curtail media access but rather to prevent problems that could arise.

“In the last case, there were circumstances where communications between counsel and the defendant were posted on the internet before the lawyers even got back to their hotel,” he said.

Morris complained that 3G had “rough” acoustics and layout that obstructed the view between the defense table and the jury box. The defense motion also mentioned spectators during Charlie Adelson’s trial who tried to convey their opinion about testimony by making “facial and hand gestures.”

But Cappleman said the prosecution preferred Courtroom 3G for practical reasons, including multiple screens for the jury to see surveillance video, cellphone records and other evidence. She said 3B had only one screen and a TV that had to be wheeled into the courtroom.

“Don’t bring up that television,” Everett said chuckling. “You know I hate that television.”

Everett said Courtroom 3G was the most recently renovated courtroom in the County Courthouse and that it had technology not available in other courtrooms. He noted that the Constitution provides for the courtroom to be “open” and that he would closely monitor the gallery.

“Anyone who is acting inappropriately will be removed from the trial,” he said. “If this even goes to the issue of contempt and trying to influence the jury… believe me, I have no problem having them break out the handcuffs, because you can ask around.”

The shooting of Markel on July 18, 2014, happened as he and his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, were feuding in court over their two young sons and other matters. Wendi Adelson is Donna Adelson’s daughter and Charlie Adelson’s sister.

A years-long investigation by the Tallahassee Police Department and the FBI led to the arrests and murder convictions of three others besides Charlie Adelson: his former girlfriend, Katie Magbanua, and the two killers, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera.

In other rulings, Everett said he would not allow the state to present a transcript of a conversation between Charlie Adelson and his father, Harvey Adelson, that was secretly recorded by the FBI at the Matsuri restaurant because no witness could authenticate what was said.

Everett signaled he would allow a transcript from another FBI-recorded conversation between Charlie Adelson and Magbanua at the Dolce Vita restaurant. He said that he would be subject to proper foundation and authentication by the witness, presumably Magbanua, who testified against Charlie Adelson last year.

He agreed to allow in certain evidence about the Adelsons’ wealth — including discussion in the family about trying to “bribe” Markel for $1 million before his murder. But he said he would not allow general examinations of all their assets, which Rashbaum said was prejudicial.

Everett denied a request by the defense to allow written jury questionnaires during jury selection. He said he would reserve ruling on a defense motion to dismiss the indictment or exclude evidence based on pre-indictment delay.

The judge also said he would listen to jail recordings between Charlie Adelson and Donna Adelson in the week between his conviction and her arrest before deciding whether to allow them into evidence. In some of the calls, Donna Adelson made references about suicide and fleeing.

Contact Jeff Burlew at [email protected] or 850-599-2180.