The court resolved a dispute over the Dolce Vita transcript demonstrative, TPD's Corbitt was cross-examined at length on cell and call records, FBI witnesses described the 2016 undercover approach to Donna Adelson and the covert Dolce Vita and Matsuri recordings, and Agent Sanford's recalled direct laid out the wiretap evidence and bump strategy before the Dolce Vita recording was played for the jury.
Full day summary
Outside the jury's presence, defense counsel objected that the state's rolling Dolce Vita transcript demonstrative replaced "inaudible" with ellipses and dashes, understating how much of the recording could not be transcribed; Judge Everett agreed the demonstrative had to track the court reporter's transcript exactly, including every "inaudible" marker, and set conditions for foundation testimony, defense voir dire, and a cautionary instruction. He declined to let Katherine Magbanua's prior-trial statements about not hearing the same clips affect that ruling.
Defense attorney Dan Rashbaum then continued a lengthy cross-examination of TPD Sergeant Christopher Corbitt on call-detail and cell-site records from 2014, covering family-member calling patterns, a rental-car pickup, several dated text exchanges, and demonstrative charts the defense had prepared; Corbitt repeatedly distinguished tower coverage areas from precise location and said call patterns alone do not establish co-conspirator status. On redirect, prosecutor Sarah Dugan clarified that a derogatory message about Sigfredo Garcia had come from Magbanua rather than Charlie Adelson and reviewed the July 18 "outside your house" text exchange; a question tying the divorce case to murder planning drew a sustained objection. A single recross question placed Donna Adelson's phone away from the Trescott Drive area shortly before the murder.
Retired FBI Special Agent Oscar Jimenez Jr. described posing as a gang member to approach Donna Adelson in an April 2016 undercover "bump," handing her a flyer referencing Markel's murder and a $5,000 figure, and later placing a follow-up call. On cross, he confirmed telling Donna that Magbanua and "Tuto" were being "taken care of" meant paid, but said he did not know of any money changing hands. FBI Agent Louis Bronstein authenticated the covert recording of Charlie Adelson and Magbanua at Dolce Vita, admitted over a preserved defense objection, and on cross said he could not hear much of their exchange over restaurant noise and had no knowledge of any conversation beforehand. Forensic engineer James McElveen, qualified without objection, described his audio-clarification process for the Dolce Vita and Matsuri recordings and testified his tool cannot alter or shorten audio; both clarified recordings were admitted, one over a preserved objection. On cross he acknowledged that at many points only one side of the Dolce Vita conversation is intelligible and that some whispered Matsuri statements remain unrecoverable. A brief undercover Matsuri witness authenticated a recording of Charlie and Harvey Adelson at the sushi bar.
A short recess addressed gallery conduct after visible spectator reactions and later a disruptive spectator were removed at the judge's direction. The court also granted the defense time to review a revised Dolce Vita transcript before finalizing the cautionary instruction, which combined the judge's draft with the pattern instruction.
FBI Special Agent Patrick Sanford was recalled to address earlier gaps and introduce wiretap evidence: Markel survived roughly 14 hours after being shot; Sanford testified that the Markel grandparents had no visits from May 2016 through April 2022 and roughly three visits since; and a second search of the recovered Prius confirmed a bullet path from a shot Luis Rivera's proffer disclosed Garcia fired inside the car. Sanford tied an October 31, 2013 text about Wendi abandoning a house purchase to the date Magbanua said Charlie first approached her about harming Markel, and explained that the FBI targeted Donna Adelson for the bump because pre-murder calls consistently ran Donna to Charlie to Magbanua to Garcia. He described the calls between Charlie and his mother after the bump, in coded language avoiding Markel's or Magbanua's names, followed by Charlie's call to Magbanua under a false pretext, and a meeting between Charlie and Donna the next day that could not be recorded. The day closed with the roughly 40-to-45-minute Dolce Vita recording, admitted over the defense's preserved objection, played for the jury after the judge delivered the inaudibility and transcript-guidance instructions.
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