TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Court TV) — Donna Adelson‘s attorneys brought in an expert witness who has done work in another high-profile murder case in an attempt to move her upcoming trial out of Leon County.
Donna Adelson appears in court for a motions hearing on June 13, 2025. (Court TV)
Donna, 75, is charged with the murder of FSU law professor Dan Markel, who was gunned down in a murder-for-hire at his home in 2014. At the time of his murder, Markel was in a contentious custody battle with his ex-wife and Donna’s daughter, Wendi.
Donna’s defense attorneys highlighted not only her pretrial publicity but the publicity surrounding the trials and convictions of three other defendants in Markel’s murder in their bid to move Donna’s trial to a new venue. Donna was arrested days after her son, Charlie Adelson, was convicted of the exact charges she is currently facing.
MORE | Charlie Adelson trashes ‘inbred’ jurors in jail calls to his mom
To illustrate the pretrial publicity they say has tainted the Leon County jury pool, Donna’s attorneys brought in James Todd Murphy, the president of Truescope, a media monitoring and analysis company, to testify at Friday’s hearing. Murphy emphasized the saturation of media coverage of the Markel murder in his testimony, comparing it to the case of Bryan Kohberger in Idaho. Murphy testified on behalf of Kohberger’s defense at an August hearing, as those attorneys worked to have the trial moved out of Latah County — a request that has now been granted, with the trial scheduled to take place in Ada County.
Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman noted in her arguments that moving a trial is often done not solely as a remedy for pretrial publicity, but as a measure of safety when a crime has had a catastrophic impact on the community itself. “Nobody’s going to start a riot based on Donna Adelson’s verdict,” Cappleman said. “Whichever way it goes.”
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In Florida, Murphy said he analyzed both Charlie and Donna’s names and found more than 2,800 stories published, estimating that each resident of Leon County had the opportunity to view them hundreds of times. When analyzed in conjunction with podcasts and social media, Murphy noted there had been at least 92 million impressions — opportunities for potential jurors to learn about the case.
Cappleman, who has led the prosecution for each of the codefendants in Markel’s murder, asked the judge not to move the case or at least defer ruling until after they attempt to seat a jury. “We have successfully selected three prior juries under similar circumstances with similar media attention,” Cappleman said.
Donna’s attorneys offered Miami-Dade County as an alternate location to host the trial, which boasts a population approximately 450% larger than Leon County. The Adelson family is also from the Miami area. In phone calls following the verdict in Charlie’s trial, Donna and Charlie discussed how the location of the trial influenced the conviction.
Donna: “This is from intelligent people, that’s my problem.”
Charlie: “That’s the catch. That’s a jury of my peers. The jury of my peers was not there.”
Judge Stephen Everett said he would issue a written ruling when he makes a decision. Donna’s trial is currently scheduled to begin on August 19 in Leon County.
