FL - FSU Law Professor Dan Markel Murdered by Hitmen *3 guilty* #15

[amicuscurie]

i agree with other Wser who said, many pages ago, maybe Cohen is going to lie for Charlie? I can't envisage anyone else who can test-i-lie to extortion

It is hard to understand why he’s on the defense list. Maybe they are placing a lot of importance on Wendi having a job offer in Miami? But how does that help their case? On one of the texts, Donna says to Charlie that they are “waiting for Gary to get here.” Wonder if it’s the same Gary, and why they were expecting him. And he’s already shown that he’s done a favor for them before by offering to hire Wendi. They must‘ve been pretty close family friends. I think they ran the “bribe” idea for Dan by him as well. Maybe he’s going to testify about that, about how very very legal and not at all illegal that was.

I just would think that once he found out the nature of the crime Charlie is accused of, he would not want to testify for him.

 

[amicuscurie]

Has there been any discussion that I missed on current DA and HA surveillance, given that they are wealthy and are flight risks, particularly given today's DA calls?

I have heard they are not under surveillance and have even traveled out of the country and come back. That may be a rumor, though.

 

[cottonweaver]

I forgot the bump involved texting DA too! No wonder she was shaken up

and the DA CA phone call which follows on the same afternoon has DA suggesting that Harvey comes along when they have their face-to-face conversation about it tomorrow.
( Harvey's involvement)

 

[cottonweaver]

Next day after text bump , May 5th 2016. , call WW

CA - DA call. Very short excerpt played:
DA wants to meet him outside her house, as CA arrives

Meeting at pool area, at Ikon. Three of them sat in a private area within the Ikon's pool

Exhibit XX, call. SG & KM. ( I'm not sure what this is about but KM says she's panicking , freaking out)

Call YY: CA & KM. He says he's going to call her again from a landline. ( very short call)

Call ZZ: CA recalls the bump text to KM ( lol he can't even recall that short text. He must be panicking)
CA ' I just want the person to stop harassing my family.... this person text my mom 2am...'
They are both mind-boggled that the Bumper doesn't conceal his own number. CA says he worries about his dad's safery going to the office.
KM criticises him for talking too much. CA replies by saying how dear a friend she is. ( Whoops! Problem for Rash)

 

[Mariposa]

I feel like the last remaining big question in this case is what did WA know, and when did she know it? It will probably never be known. Thought maybe KM would have some testimony to shed light on it (were they WhatsApping? Did they talk about getting rid of DM the day they were photographed chilling at the beach together in Miami for Father’s Day 2014?) - but nope.

 

[amicuscurie]

I feel like the last remaining big question in this case is what did WA know, and when did she know it? It will probably never be known. Thought maybe KM would have some testimony to shed light on it (were they WhatsApping? Did they talk about getting rid of DM the day they were photographed chilling at the beach together in Miami for Father’s Day 2014?) - but nope.

Is it a crime if Wendi knew about it but wasn’t involved in the planning?

 

[opt]

I feel like the last remaining big question in this case is what did WA know, and when did she know it?

She’s a lawyer. She knows that it’s better not to be told. The family must have told her the minimum needed (e.g. break the TV and keep the repair appointment) to ensure a successful hit.

In short, she wasn’t told, but she knew.

 

[clearskies1]

I can't take listening to them. In that respect I hope Charlie doesn't testify. Annoying. JMO.

 

[Mariposa]

Is it a crime if Wendi knew about it but wasn’t involved in the planning?

I kind of don’t think so? I don’t know that there would be an affirmative duty in FL state law to come forward about a crime being planned by others.

IMO they could have told her, hey we are taking care of your problem so just hang tight. Do what we say (repair guy, timings, etc). The whole family dynamic is warped enough that I can see her just going along. Still hard to reconcile the bizarre chattering in her police interview about CA and the TV cheaper than a hitman, the whole “he’s such a character!” thing. If they TV repair was set up as her alibi it seems like a crappy one! The repair guy was only at her house for a brief window in the morning (did they really think a repair guy would spend hours toiling over a shattered flatscreen??). A better alibi would be like, go into your darn FSU office and work and be seen by others or have hair or spa appointments etc.

 

[Cutie]

[i snipped some]

Wendi just learning about Charlie's extortion defense theory the day of her testimony is just as believable as her:
1) forcing her kids to watch movies on a shattered TV for a month
2) then by sheer coincidence having an appointment for the TV to be assessed by repair guy the morning of the murder - who told her its not worth fixing,
3) then talking on the phone with Charlie for 18 minutes about whether it was worth it to fix the TV or replace it and texting "This is SWEET!!" to Charlie after the call
4) The TV happens to be the exact same TV that Charlie bought her as a divorce present because it's cheaper than hiring a hitman. And all this before
5) driving 15 minutes out of her way to within 3-5 houses of the crime scene of the murder of her ex-husband - who happened to be murdered by a hitman - using a shortcut that is not a shortcut to the furthest possible liquor store away from both her house and the restaurant plans she was running late for; and then
6) Her mom and brother being caught on FBI wiretaps referencing how a pay off to someone associated with Dan Markel's murder was "a TV".

No reasonable person could possibly believe any of this. How unlucky for innocent Wendi, for all these circumstances to come together.

So many unlucky coincidences. Poor Wendi. Don't forget that Wendi just happened to string ex-bf Lacasse along and the hits (attempted and actual) happened to be planned for when Lacasse was driving out of town, in cars that looked like his.

But I am still not sure there's enough to charge her.

The continuing crime here is that she gets to raise those boys, brainwash them, keep the Markel family from them, and continue her innocent act. "I did nothing wrong here, I just love you boys so much..." She flat out lied multiple times in her testimony about both irrelevant/small and relevant/big things.

I pray that GC has more dirt on her. They've asked about WhatsApp texts in each trial, and none have surfaced yet.

 

[Seattle1]

But how “lucky” for Wendi she was offered some immunity, which I still cannot believe.

So disappointing. I don’t see how Wendi offered anything that implicated others that they couldn’t have gotten anywhere else unless they offered her immunity . She is lucky that’s for sure.

I can't think of another case of this magnitude where the prosecutor wasn't required to make a deal with the devil! It's a sad fact of how the justice system works but in this case, it definitely could have been worse! I can see where WA would have been given immunity, and three co-defendants acquitted who could never be tried again for Dan's murder. The prosecutor only gets one bite at the apple.

 

[amicuscurie]

Why would Donna need to ask multiple people what she should do when someone approaches her and asks for money or else? She was asking people?

This call is so incriminating! “I’m so sorry, Mr. blackmailer! Can you please describe the person you are blackmailing, because it isn’t me. I don’t know anything about this. I can’t pay you. If I knew, I could pay you! But I don’t know what to do!!!

also: “I’m out of the loop?” There’s a loop?

 

[Gypsy Road]

I never knew Donna called the number!

 

[Gypsy Road]

Why would you keep calling this number if you aren’t involved.

 

[vislaw]

I never knew Donna called the number!

I had no idea either. Holy Frijoles this is crazy. How Donna is not indicted by now is a mystery to me.

 

[cottonweaver]

I never knew Donna called the number!

This is the first time we' ve ever heard that call. It's unbelievable!

 

[cottonweaver]

After the pot-belly pig call between CA & KM is played to jury

Charlie is smirking within sight of the jury while Georgia asks Sanford ' Are LE sometimes referred to as p/igs?'

Smirking. He is so done.

Rashbaum is up to cross FBI Sanford

 

[amicuscurie]

This testimony about how Charlie never got a burner phone would work better if the calls hand established that he was an idiot.

Sanford doing well on cross. Rash has to say “fair enough“ a lot.

 

[cottonweaver]

'He didn't flee right?'

Over & over.
So tedious.

He's not likely to flee and leave his co-conspirators to face the music and then try and fight extradition is he?
-----
Rash is repeating himself when he counts all katie's lies about calling the undercover. Looks like he doesn't have much
He doesn't want to address those terrible calls jury just heard for hours and prefers to have Sanford go through Katie's previous proffer interviews
-----
Now he's getting to the meat of his defence. Double extortion
- very weak. great answer from Sanford ' no, seems like charlie was comparing a blackmailer to something he'd seen on a tv show'
- Rashb moves onto fact that nobody paid the undercover despite the 'threats' becoming more worrying over time. ( This is a bit better imo)

 

[Seattle1]

Is it a crime if Wendi knew about it but wasn’t involved in the planning?

Actually, that's the only thing CA got right -- you can get away with being involved in a murder if you don't talk about it! In other words, the US Constitution protects your right to remain silent. It's not a crime to know and remain silent. It's immoral and against the laws of human decency but it's not illegal.

However, it IS a crime to lie to police about an investigation and where many accomplices finally get tripped up. They will keep quiet for months if not years and when investigators finally get around to questioning you-- the friend, sibling, associate, fishing for information, thinking your are distancing yourself from the crime and/or the suspect, you provide misleading information to the police and now you've opened yourself to being charged with lying to police and/or obstructing justice.

Once you give police reason to detain you, won't take long for a good investigator (a la FBI Jonny Grusing) to break you. MOO