Murder trial for mother-in-law of slain professor’s law professor delayed after her leading lawyer resigns
Criminal Justice
Murder trial delayed for slain law prof’s mother-in-law after her lead lawyer resigns
September 18, 2024, 1:21 pm CDT
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 booking photo for 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, via the Associated Press).
Rashbaum acted for Donna Adelson and Charlie Adelson, her son who was convicted of hiring hit men to murder professor Dan Markel in November 2023. Donna Adelson has been accused of being involved in the murder plot that was allegedly carried out as a result of a custody dispute 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. According to Robert “Alex” Morris Donna Adelson’s new lead attorney, Charlie Adelson’s appellate team sent a notice on Monday advising that Charlie Adelson did not consent to Rashbaum interrogating him and that he no longer consented for Rashbaum to represent his mother. She was arrested in Miami International Airport, a week following 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 can tell,” he said.
See:
Did dentist pay hit men to kill his ex-brother in law Dan Markel? ‘Absolutely no,’ he testifies
Defense blames law prof’s murder on extortion plot; lawyer ex-wife denies family involvement
