GUILTY FL - Dan Markel, 41, FSU Law Professor, Tallahassee, 18 July 2014 *arrests* #12

[KidonGadol]

The Tara Kawass’ “work product” about having Sigfredo Garcia testify to the effect of “Charles Adelson hired me directly to kill Dan Markel without KM as intermediary” is at least strange, if not crazy! Sigfredo Garcia and his new lawyer Baya Harrison, III, are appealing “[…] the Appellant requests that the judgment of the circuit court be REVERSED, and this cause remanded for a new trial.”

I do not foresee this appeal to be successful, given that KM got convicted in all three counts. What are very telling in the narrative of Sigfredo Garcia’s appeal consist of many small incriminating details damaging Charles and Wendi Adelson.

Did you know that Charles and Wendi Adelson went to a dinner celebration the very day of the murder? See picture attached. The picture provides the URL address whereas you could download the appeal document for many interesting details.

Nope no dinner on the day of the murder This is what I found in the Tallahassee Democrat

Did Charlie and Wendi Adelson have a 'celebration dinner' after Dan Markel's death?​

"Adelson testified that after her ex-husband's killing, she was afraid for her safety and her children's and stayed in her home. After about a month, she said she told her brother she was ready to go out to a restaurant. "
- this was the supposed celebratory dinner ( Professor laCasse referenced this at one point in the first trial )

The proposed appeal of SG is interesting. His lawyer is presumably going to try to get hold of the telephone recordings from the jail to him in prison to verify what he says about being worded up to make KM look innocent. I'm not sure how they think that this impacts on HIS conviction for being the triggerman.
More than that, this trial has shown serious inconsistencies in Rivera's testimony, a testimony that got SG convicted. Just one example - the daytime call from SG to KM about the presence of Wendi on the 17th of July 14 is a fiction. There is no record of it. There never was a record of it at the time of the '19 trial but the state just alleged that there were communications during the day between SG and KM which fudged it. That's true but KM initiated the call and it was 28 seconds long. possibly dropped out and was restarted one minute later for ten seconds.
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The graphic entity that you provide appears to be clipped and there is no URL visible.

 

[Sherubbian]

The picture (see re-attached for your convenience) speaks for itself. That is why I clipped and posted the piece:

1. I checked with someone else and they could see the URL address of the entire document at the top. May be you have software or display issue on your computer?

2. This Appeal was filed at the First District Court of Appeal on 1/14/2021. Sigfredo Garcia’s lawyer, Baya Harrison III writes in page 43 “The conviction and sentence for first-degree murder should be
reversed.” By now on 6/9/2022, there should have been a ruling at the Court’s website but I could not find it

3. The picture is from page 13 of the Appeal. It depicts a hearsay: “the lawyer of SG says that Dr. Jeffrey LaCase says that Wendi told him that Wendi and Charles have had a celebration dinner the very day of the murder.” Someone is not telling the truth, and I let the Court and the Jury make a determination whom to believe. Perhaps, Wendi and Charles have had both dinners, I take it.

4. The Sigfredo Garcia’s Appeal has 45 pages. It has several juicy “statements of facts” that were new to me. However, these details are perhaps not new to most people here at WS. I heard of the murder of Dan Markel since about 2018 (or may be a little earlier) but I did not research the case fully (what for?)

 

[vislaw]

The picture (see re-attached for your convenience) speaks for itself. That is why I clipped and posted the piece:

1. I checked with someone else and they could see the URL address of the entire document at the top. May be you have software or display issue on your computer?
...

I also can''t see the url. Could someone simply type it out?

 

[JT_Watchman]

I also can''t see the url. Could someone simply type it out?

Here it is:

19-4005 - First District Court of Appeal

www.1dca.org

 

[Bongo]

You all are so smart and great analysts. So fun to read!

 

[Blue Shakehead]

4. The Sigfredo Garcia’s Appeal has 45 pages. It has several juicy “statements of facts” that were new to me. However, these details are perhaps not new to most people here at WS. I heard of the murder of Dan Markel since about 2018 (or may be a little earlier) but I did not research the case fully (what for?)

Thanks for the links to Garcia's appeal. I remember now why I put off reading them for so long...and it was the jury's questions. Mentour lawyer's interview with the juror from trial was incredibly infuriating, but especially so when she disclosed that most of the arguments in deliberations and the questions to Judge Harkinson were about Garcia. WHAT? She was basically trying to find a way to find Garcia not guilty of 1st degree murder by arguing that Rivera was the shooter: which directly contradicted:

1. The expert witness who said the shooter was over 6' tall while Rivera was 5'4.
2. The video evidence right after the shooting which has Rivera driving and Garcia as the passenger. Im no assassin but it seems likeliest to me that the driver would not put it in park, get out, shoot target, then come back and drive. If that were the case, what the hell is Sigfredo even doing, just cruising around?
3. Rivera's testimony, which although self-interested also turned out to be a virtual play-by-play of everything.

So she argued for two straight days that Rivera was the shooter and Garcia was just there and that maybe Garcia thought it might be a robbery. Two separate trips to Tallahassee to stalk and hunt Dan Markel. Nothing stolen. All the cell phone evidence of Garcia reporting to Magbanua. The payoff that Garcia used to buy a bunch of vehicles.

That moronic juror cost the Markel family 3 years of torture.

 

[jbc]

Nope no dinner on the day of the murder This is what I found in the Tallahassee Democrat

Did Charlie and Wendi Adelson have a 'celebration dinner' after Dan Markel's death?​

"Adelson testified that after her ex-husband's killing, she was afraid for her safety and her children's and stayed in her home. After about a month, she said she told her brother she was ready to go out to a restaurant. "
- this was the supposed celebratory dinner ( Professor laCasse referenced this at one point in the first trial )

The proposed appeal of SG is interesting. His lawyer is presumably going to try to get hold of the telephone recordings from the jail to him in prison to verify what he says about being worded up to make KM look innocent. I'm not sure how they think that this impacts on HIS conviction for being the triggerman.
More than that, this trial has shown serious inconsistencies in Rivera's testimony, a testimony that got SG convicted. Just one example - the daytime call from SG to KM about the presence of Wendi on the 17th of July 14 is a fiction. There is no record of it. There never was a record of it at the time of the '19 trial but the state just alleged that there were communications during the day between SG and KM which fudged it. That's true but KM initiated the call and it was 28 seconds long. possibly dropped out and was restarted one minute later for ten seconds.
========================================================
The graphic entity that you provide appears to be clipped and there is no URL visible.

But KidonGadol -- at this point, though, haven't they all admitted that they used burner phones - at least (stupidly) sporadically?

 

[Weki]

Thanks for the links to Garcia's appeal. I remember now why I put off reading them for so long...and it was the jury's questions. Mentour lawyer's interview with the juror from trial was incredibly infuriating, but especially so when she disclosed that most of the arguments in deliberations and the questions to Judge Harkinson were about Garcia. WHAT? She was basically trying to find a way to find Garcia not guilty of 1st degree murder by arguing that Rivera was the shooter: which directly contradicted:

1. The expert witness who said the shooter was over 6' tall while Rivera was 5'4.
2. The video evidence right after the shooting which has Rivera driving and Garcia as the passenger. Im no assassin but it seems likeliest to me that the driver would not put it in park, get out, shoot target, then come back and drive. If that were the case, what the hell is Sigfredo even doing, just cruising around?
3. Rivera's testimony, which although self-interested also turned out to be a virtual play-by-play of everything.

So she argued for two straight days that Rivera was the shooter and Garcia was just there and that maybe Garcia thought it might be a robbery. Two separate trips to Tallahassee to stalk and hunt Dan Markel. Nothing stolen. All the cell phone evidence of Garcia reporting to Magbanua. The payoff that Garcia used to buy a bunch of vehicles.

That moronic juror cost the Markel family 3 years of torture.

That juror pissed me off so much!! Uggghhhhh!

But even if Rivera was the shooter it doesn’t matter because they’re both guilty of murder under the principal theory. I guess she would argue Rivera is not believable if he’s lying about the shooter. But he has no motive to lie about that detail once he decided to cooperate. They were both going to be charged with murder and face the death penalty, regardless of who was the shooter. The evidence was clear that they were both there; scouting and during the murder. I guess she would argue that he would have gotten more time if he admitted he was the shooter. And that’s his motive for lying!

That’s where the rest of the evidence comes in to corroborate his testimony. As a juror she’s supposed to look at the whole picture! Gaaahhh! This type of juror is such a waste of time because they think they’re more intelligent than they are!

 

[Blue Shakehead]

But KidonGadol -- at this point, though, haven't they all admitted that they used burner phones - at least (stupidly) sporadically?

This Rivera-Is-Lying thing is completely bizzare to me. What is he lying about, specifically? That he thought he saw Wendi Adelson with her kids but it turned out that it wasn't them? If he wanted to lie to get Wendi involved directly to reduce his sentence wouldn't he just say they talked to her and she pointed out Markels house?

The question is not whether Rivera in fact saw Wendi with her kids. The question is whether Rivera thought he saw her with her kids. Try to imagine that you are high on cocaine and you are in a completely foreign city full of white people, but you are hispanic and a felon and you are camped out in a wooded park for hours stalking your intended target. Over the course of two separate trips. And you understand that you are there to murder this man for "a lady" because she "wanted her kids back". And so in your cocaine-fueled anxiety, you happen to see a lady with her kids nearby. "THERE'S THE LADY!!!". Turns out, you were wrong. But that little detail provided exactly zero evidence against Wendi, whether it was her or not.

Add up all the things Rivera told the truth about that was later corroborated by police (money drop and calls with Katie, renting cars, shooting the Prius gasline, meeting the drug dealer in Tally and getting him to rent the room, the shooting itself, the stuff they did with the money, etc. etc. etc.) Those are a lot of details that are corroborated by other witnesses or other evidence. Ok. Now add up all the things he got wrong....and then ask yourself - was this a total made-up lie or is he mis-remembering some details or getting things mixed up between trip 1 vs trip 2? And then, does this inconsistency shave off any years from his sentence? No.

Now do the same thing for Wendi Adelson and Katherine Magbanua. Hell, even June Umchinda. Now, who is the liar?

 

[Costcoluvr]

You all are so smart and great analysts. So fun to read!

Agreed!

 

[Deleted member 302228]

Garcia's conviction was affirmed in 2021, there is no active appeal.

 

[jbc]

...It must be a huge burden for Wendi to have her kids a few hours a week that they aren't with Donna or with the nanny.

And a huge burden for the nanny, getting boned by Charlie (while watching the babies?).
What a group!

 

[Bongo]

And a huge burden for the nanny, getting boned by Charlie (while watching the babies?).
What a group!

Thank you for putting that image in my head.....NOT.

 

[jbc]

Thank you for putting that image in my head.....NOT.

...then getting permanently linked to the family because you didn't use birth control.
It gets worse...
Minibrains, all of them.

 

[katiecoolady]

Kind of getting caught up here, but yeah,I don't see the appeal with Charlie at all. But if someone has never been taken care of and he lavishes them with gifts and dinners and a lifestyle they've never had, which seems his schtick, then makes sense. He's pretty insufferable though.

However, I do see what LaCasse described as Wendi's superficial charm. Am I the only one who saw a change in demeanor when she was being crossed by DeCoste to a mild flirtation? "Oh, you're just flattering me now" and the batting eyes. He was not phased at all, but I could clearly see how she's perfected that skill set with men. God LaCasse is so lucky he got away from her when he did.

 

[AlferdPacker]

DBM

 

[minusfour]

Kind of getting caught up here, but yeah,I don't see the appeal with Charlie at all. But if someone has never been taken care of and he lavishes them with gifts and dinners and a lifestyle they've never had, which seems his schtick, then makes sense. He's pretty insufferable though.

However, I do see what LaCasse described as Wendi's superficial charm. Am I the only one who saw a change in demeanor when she was being crossed by DeCoste to a mild flirtation? "Oh, you're just flattering me now" and the batting eyes. He was not phased at all, but I could clearly see how she's perfected that skill set with men. God LaCasse is so lucky he got away from her when he did.

I agree, I don't think being a alleged murderer, and confirmed serial cheater are his only drawbacks. He must have been an insufferable bore, the endless boasting, it would have got old very quickly. His immersion within his family-to the point he would literally murder for them apparently, also seems like a minus. I know nobody is perfect, but it hard to see the attraction, (apart from $) here.
I only read June Umchinda's statement yesterday, and was glad to read that CA's and DA's was affected by the murder, before KM's first trial. He couldn't sleep, lost friends, feared a early morning police raid, wasn't liked by at least some dentists. DA felt like she was being haunted, and needed medication for her anxiety. Good, may they not enjoy any peace for a very long time! WA seems to have been able to get on quite well with her life. KM's conviction, and CA's arrest might have changed that for WA. Again, good.

 

[PromotedPawn]

My goodness! I had no idea there was a thread here for this. I've read about the case a bit due to knowing one of the suspects but I haven't followed it. Now I have to go back and read everything. I still don't fully understand how any of this happened.

 

[JT_Watchman]

My goodness! I had no idea there was a thread here for this. I've read about the case a bit due to knowing one of the suspects but I haven't followed it. Now I have to go back and read everything. I still don't fully understand how any of this happened.

This is the 12th thread about this case. And the other 11 threads are each 50 pages long.

 

[jbc]

My goodness! I had no idea there was a thread here for this. I've read about the case a bit due to knowing one of the suspects but I haven't followed it. Now I have to go back and read everything. I still don't fully understand how any of this happened.

yes, you may learn a lot.
But, irresistably...which suspect do you know?
Would you care to enlighten on her/his characteristics as you know them?
Are you surprised they are a suspect?