[As posted previously by
@ch_13 ]
O.K. This is really bugging me. Beginning with timestamp 1:22:22, I am going to attempt to type the exchange between Georgia Cappleman ("GC"), the Prosecutor, and Charlie Adelson ("CA"). Now, we know that my hearing ain't the greatest, nor is my spelling, or analytical abilities, but here goes:
Background
Donna texts Charlie to say she can't talk now about Harvey's 70th Birthday [which was to occur on July 5, 2014], but that she would text him when she got into the bathroom at the rest area in Gainesville and had privacy. She asks Charlie to erase the text after reading it.
GC: Why did she [Donna Adelson] have you erase that text?
CA: O.K. If you look at the records, I never erased the text.
GC: Well,why did she ask you? If you know. You may not know.
CA: Maybe she's afraid that my Dad's looking at her phone, and would find out about the present. It made no sense to me, that's why I didn't erase anything.
{My comment: He did not erase anything because, erroneously, he was so confident that he and DA's "Code-Speak" would completely baffle any LE who may later examine his phone, or be wiretapping them.}
GC: How is you erasing the text going to prevent your Dad from seeing it on your Mom's phone?
CA: Well, if my Dad looked at my Mom's phone, he might have seen the text and know what my Mom is planning for his birthday.
GC: You weren't with Dad . . . she was with Dad. Just to clarify.
CA: Yeah. She was with my Dad.
GC: And the text that she asked you to erase, that particular text didn't say anything about a birthday or paella. Can you agree on that?
CA: No [the text didn't say anything about a birthday or paella], but I knew what it was about. [No secrets revealed here, folks, the cat is not out of the bag.]
GC: Twenty minutes later, she texts again and asks something about Dad's birthday. Do you remember that?
CA: Yeah. I know we were trying to plan a surprise cruise. That was the original idea.
GC: O.K. And the paella is mentioned elsewhere, not in this particular thread that we're talking about now.
CA: Yeah.
GC: Was paella the big birthday gift?
CA: Yeah. I paid for the catering for the whole party.
GC: Then, three months later, on June 8 [2014], just after midnight you text her, "Still working on Dad's birthday present." Is that in reference to the paella guy?
CA: Uh, possibly. Or, possibly, what I was also getting was a present. It's been 10 years, so I don't exactly know what I got him 10 years ago on his birthday, or what I was thinking about getting him.
GC: And then, at 1 a.m., Mom texts you back -- and I think she was in Israel, so that may account for the time to text you -- "I know you'll come through for me." Is that what she said?
CA: That's what the text said. Yeah.
GC: Can we agree the timing of these texts is consistent with being sent the day after the killers got home from their failed June murder trip?
CA: No. It's consistent with a few weeks before my Dad's birthday, to try to figure out what we're going to get him.
Now for my rant: Scroll past, if necessary.
I would not characterize a dinner party as a "present." I'd call it a party, or a celebration. If they were taking great pains to erase texts, so that HA would not "catch on" that they were planning a birthday party for him, why not just call it what it is? A party. Not a present!
A present would be more like a big, honking TV, with a bright red bow on it. A present is something you put in a box and wrap up, with ribbons. Not a big batch of Paella prepared by a caterer and served to party-goers, well wishers of the man being feted in celebration of his birthday. (Unless, of course, it was a frozen Family-Sized Paella entree, similar to Stouffer's or something you'd buy at Costco.)
It was a birthday party for HA, where Paella was going to be prepared and served by a caterer. There would have been no need to keep Kosher, of course, with Dan Markel out of the picture (so to speak). However, if the attempt on his life failed again, and Dan were going to attend the party, they'd just lie to him -- "It's all Kosher, Dan. No worries."