- Donna Adelson's attorneys asked a judge Friday to dismiss the case against her in the death of FSU professor Dan Markel.
- The defense also motioned to have the courtroom changed to a smaller room for the trial.
- Watch the video to see how the judge responded to those requests.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The attorneys representing a grandmother accused of hiring two hitmen to murder FSU Law Professor Dan Markel are asking for the case to be thrown out.
Lawyers for Donna Adelson and prosecutors both made requests for the trial starting in a little less than two weeks.
Adelson's defense attorneys asked the judge to dismiss the case.
Defense attorneys said her trial was strategically delayed.
The state argues that Adelson conspired with her son Charlie in 2014 to hire two hitmen to kill Dan Markel in the garage of his Betton Hills home.
Prosecutors say it was over a custody battle between Adelson's daughter and Markel.
Charlie was convicted last year and three others were convicted prior, including his ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua.
Adelson was arrested while trying to board a plane to Vietnam, a country that does not extradite to the US.
Defense attorney Dan Rashbaum said much of the evidence was available earlier.
"You're going to see that 95 percent probably more of this case that we're about to hear is the same exact case as it was in 2019," Rashbaum said.
The state said new evidence emerged since and the trial was not been delayed.
Prosecutor Sarah Dugan said the state learned more information from convicted co-conspirator Magbanua.
"We learned that from her through proffer through information she gave leading up to trial and her testimony at trial which was all in 2023," Dugan said.
Judge Everett said he will review evidence as well as testimony and make a decision from there.
If the judge does not dismiss the charges, the defense asked the judge to consider throwing out some evidence.
The motion includes some text message exchanges and the mention of her plans to fly to Vietnam.
The judge denied the ask to remove talk of the flight out of the country.
He is still reviewing some of the evidence to make decisions about the phone records.
Adelson has two hearings scheduled prior to the trial on September 17th.
Those hearings are happening September 6th and 12th.
