Criminal Justice
Murder trial delayed for slain law prof’s mother-in-law after her lead lawyer resigns
Charlie Adelson is cross-examined by Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman during his trial Nov. 3, 2023, in Tallahassee, Florida, for the murder of Dan Markel, a professor at the Florida State University College of Law. (Photo by Alicia Devine/The Tallahassee Democrat via the Associated Press)
A Florida woman accused in the July 2014 murder of her son-in-law, a professor at the Florida State University College of Law, won’t be going to trial in Tallahassee, Florida, this week because of the resignation of her lead attorney.
Lawyer Dan Rashbaum resigned Tuesday, the same day that jury selection was to begin in the murder trial of 74-year-old Donna Adelson, report the Tallahassee Democrat (here and here), WTXL and Florida Politics.
The resignation could open up possible new defense for Adelson, according to a lawyer on the defense team who is now her lead lawyer.
Donna Adelson’s 2023 booking photo. (Photo from the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department via the Associated Press)
Rashbaum represented Donna Adelson and her son, dentist Charlie Adelson, who was convicted in November 2023 for hiring hit men to kill professor Dan Markel. Donna Adelson is accused of being part of the murder plot, allegedly carried out during a custody battle between Markel and Adelson’s daughter, Wendi Adelson. The alleged motive was to allow Wendi Adelson to move with the children from Tallahassee, Florida, to be near her family in Miami.
Charlie Adelson had contended at his trial that he was a victim of an extortion plot carried out by the two men who killed Markel.
Rashbaum cited a potential conflict of interest that arose after Charlie Adelson was subpoenaed to testify in his mother’s trial. On Monday, Charlie Adelson’s appellate team filed a notice advising that he didn’t consent to Rashbaum cross-examining him and no longer consented to Rashbaum representing his mother, according to Robert “Alex” Morris, Donna Adelson’s new lead lawyer.
Donna Adelson told Judge Stephen Everett in Leon County, Florida, that she consented to the joint representation. She was arrested at the Miami International Airport a week after Charlie Adelson’s conviction. She and her husband were buying one-way tickets to Vietnam.
Morris spoke with reporters outside the courthouse in an interview posted by WTXL.
Morris said everyone was aware of a potential conflict, but waivers were in place until Charlie Adelson revoked consent, as he had a right to do. That ended the “game plan, if you will, and necessitated a different one,” he said.
“Ultimately, the, the question is, is whether or not their positions are at odds with one another, and there’s absolutely the potential of that,” Morris said.
Rashbaum’s resignation “opens up pathways to, in exploring different defenses that may not have been previously available,” Morris said.
He also mentioned the possibility of a plea deal. “You never know,” he said.
See also:
Did dentist hire hit men to kill law prof Dan Markel, his ex-brother-in-law? ‘Absolutely no,’ he testifies
Defense blames law prof’s murder on extortion plot; lawyer ex-wife denies family involvement
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