TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Scripps News Tallahassee/Court TV) — Donna Adelson was back in court Thursday afternoon for a motions hearing to address her request to exclude the storyline of her daughter’s book from her upcoming murder trial.
FILE – Donna Adelson (L), Wendi Adelson (R), (POOL)
Adelson is charged with masterminding the killing of her former son-in-law, FSU law professor Dan Markel, who was shot and killed in his driveway in 2014. Markel was in the middle of a contentious custody battle with his ex-wife, Donna’s daughter Wendi Adelson, at the time of his death.
Donna’s son, Charlie Adelson, has already been convicted for his role in the murder-for-hire plot, along with Charlie’s ex-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, and the two hitmen who carried out the actual shooting.
Wendi authored a fictional book that closely resembled her real life, and Donna’s defense argued it would be confusing to jurors to include the book because the “main character did not feel stuck in Tallahassee and thanked her husband for bringing her.”
Thursday’s hearing was a renewal of a motion by Donna’s new defense team. It was initially denied in September when Donna’s prior defense team filed it.
Donna’s current counsel also argued that additional facts were not previously known. The defense says evidence shows Wendi’s book was originally published on September 15, 2011, before she was denied her petition to relocate from Tallahassee to South Florida in 2013 with her children and the “alleged conspiracy” in 2014.
The state mentioned having emails from Wendi that show she was unhappy in Tallahassee. They say the book is a continuation of that evidence, with passages that are autobiographical.
Judge Stephen Everett is expected to issue his ruling at a later date.
Scripps News Tallahassee, an E.W. Scripps Company, contributed to this report.
