TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Donna Adelson petitioned the First District Court of Appeal for a writ of prohibition to prevent the trial judge from presiding over her criminal trial.
She claims Leon County Circuit Judge Stephen Everett engaged in improper ex parte communications by reviewing search warrant applications involving her husband's phone records and a wiretap of his cellphone.
Florida's 1st DCA denied Adelson's petition on Friday. The court found her claims "meritless and facially insufficient" and explained that judges routinely review warrant applications and then preside over resulting criminal trials.
Court records show Adelson's trial will begin August 19 at 8:30 a.m. She's accused of orchestrating the murder of her former son-in-law Dan Markel.
Her trial was set for June, but Adelson's attorneys were able to delay it. They said they needed more time to review materials since the state had started a new investigation. In a hearing on Friday at the Leon County Courthouse, the judge allowed Adelson's attorneys take additional depositions as long as it involved new subject matters in the case. The state objected to re-deposing witnesses who had already been questioned, calling it a waste of time.
