Louis Bronstein — Direct/Cross
134 linesMS. CAPPLEMAN: The State calls Special Agent...
JUDGE EVERETT: Do you swear or affirm the testimoney you're about to give will be the truth?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I do.
JUDGE EVERETT: You may take your seat.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Thank you.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sir, please — How long have you been with the FBI?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Since 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you participate in an operation back on April 20, 2016?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And was that a surveillance involving the defendant in this case, Charlie Adelson?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What was your involvement related to that operation?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I was conducting physical surveillance in the area of Miami Beach and its surroundings, and then also maintained availability to move northward if the surveillance venue changed and deploy — surveillance hardware, if needed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, so originally there was an attempt to surveil a meeting between Donna Adelson and Charlie Adelson, and you were involved in that?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And what was your role in that particular effort?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: At the beginning of that day, I was involved in surveilling the bump, as it's been called.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yep.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: And following that, I maintained availability in that area, and then I received word that there would be a meeting taking place north of Miami Beach, so I made my way north.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. I think I'm with you. So you were present at the bump doing some recording from a remote location?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I was not recording at that time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, what was your role there?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I was — we call it QRF, quick reaction — quick reaction force. Just for the security of the undercover.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Or whoever is involved. Part of the team for security purposes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then from there you move to — is it a restaurant known as Dolce Vita?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes, at the time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And what was your role at the efforts to record a conversation at the Dolce Vita restaurant that day?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I was instructed to make my way towards the Dolce Vita restaurant. At that time that I arrived, I was handed some recording equipment in a bag.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: And I went inside and positioned myself as close as possible to Mr. Adelson.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So you knew who you were trying to record when you went into the restaurant.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And was Mr. Adelson already inside the restaurant when you entered?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I would have to — I don't think — yes, but I don't recall exactly.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I'm almost certain, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And was there another person present as well that you were attempting to record?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Who was that?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Katherine Magbanua. Katie Magbanua.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And was the objective just to get as close as possible without being made and try to record their conversation?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Tell us about the equipment. You said it was inside of a bag.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What does that look like?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: It was a messenger bag, computer bag size type.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Thing you would carry books or a laptop computer in. Kind of a like perforations, like a bunch of holes in it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, like a mesh?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Not quite like a mesh, but, like, if you think of — it was made out of, like, leather or fake leather.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Maybe the whole front-facing area of it just had a lot of holes spaced about a half inch to an inch apart all over.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And was the bag outfitted with audio and video recording equipment?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And are you familiar with that equipment?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I'm familiar with its appearance, and it had sort of an on-off button. Beyond that, I have no real technical expertise for it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Was it in proper working order that day?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: That was my understanding.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And you were able to review the recording, correct?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So it did record audio and video that day?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Thank you.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where were you positioned in relation to Mr. Adelson and Ms. Magbanua?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: So they were seated toward — about as far back in the restaurant as you can go, and I positioned myself with my back against the wall, so seated.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: You know, maybe 10, 12 feet away, and there was, I think, one table between us and them.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What were they doing when you observed them at the restaurant?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: They were having a conversation.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was there background noise going on in the restaurant? What type of environment was it?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: So yes, there was background noise.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: It's my best guess that the air handler for the restaurant was sitting in the ceiling, probably directly above either my table or theirs, but there was a sufficient amount of background noise.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was there another agent inside the restaurant also attempting to record the meeting?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes, another FBI employee did enter the restaurant.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And did he have similar equipment as to what you had?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes, that's my understanding.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And if you know, was the recording that you made more successful or the one that he made?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I believe my recording was more successful.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Thank you.
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Thank you.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Have you had an opportunity to review State's Exhibit 109, which is... the Dolce Vita recording from the equipment that you had that day?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And is it... fair and accurate as far as what was captured that day?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, Judge, I move into evidence 109.
JUDGE EVERETT: Any objection from the defense?
MR. RASHBAUM: None other than our previous motion.
JUDGE EVERETT: State's 109 is admitted at this time over defense objection.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And we talked about the date, but I'm not sure the time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On April 20th of 2016, is that correct?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And what was the time that this meeting occurred?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: I would have to reference notes or reports from that day. It would have been in the afternoon.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. 3:45 sound about right?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And about an hour in length sound about right?
LOUIS BRONSTEIN: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. No further questions.
JUDGE EVERETT: Cross examination?
MR. RASHBAUM: Thank you, Your Honor.
MR. RASHBAUM: Good afternoon.
AUDIO RECORDING: Good afternoon.
MR. RASHBAUM: So by the time you got to the restaurant and started the recording device, Katherine Magbanua and Charlie were already there and talking, right?
AUDIO RECORDING: That's what I recall.
MR. RASHBAUM: And you have no idea what they said before you got there, obviously, right?
AUDIO RECORDING: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: Okay. You, you, um — Did you see them speaking in the car for 15 minutes or so before entering the restaurant?
AUDIO RECORDING: I don't... recall that.
AUDIO RECORDING: Several years ago, obviously, at this point.
MR. RASHBAUM: Fair enough.
MR. RASHBAUM: But you have no idea what, if anything, they spoke to each other about in a car before they got to the restaurant?
AUDIO RECORDING: Their conversation in a car? No, I would have no direct knowledge of that.
MR. RASHBAUM: Um.
MR. RASHBAUM: The restaurant was pretty loud with a lot of background noise, right?
AUDIO RECORDING: I wouldn't say egregiously loud, but it had enough background noise that from the distance of me to you, you would not be fully capable of recognizing the content of a conversation.
MR. RASHBAUM: Fair to say you couldn't really hear much in terms of what they were saying to each other.
AUDIO RECORDING: Correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: And that was with you being just 8 to 10 feet away from them, right?
AUDIO RECORDING: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: I have no further questions.
JUDGE EVERETT: Redirect examination?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No questions, Your Honor.
MR. RASHBAUM: We've reviewed the transcript, we've reviewed the video, but we haven't reviewed what's coming in. Um, we're okay with the State's word that it's a — it's a transcript, but we haven't seen it. So, so I'm just putting everyone on notice.
JUDGE EVERETT: All right. I understand what you're telling me. Do you wish to look at it now while there's time?
MR. RASHBAUM: Well, I mean, it would take 40-some-odd minutes to look at it.
JUDGE EVERETT: Miss Cappleman, can you play for him, I guess, at least the parts that were previously at issue?
JUDGE EVERETT: Well, not the whole thing, but the parts that were, I guess, otherwise at the ellipses or the parentheticals?
JUDGE EVERETT: I believe this morning Ms. Meyers indicated — indicated the portions that did not actually match the transcript, that had either the parentheticals or the ellipses, were still an issue.
JUDGE EVERETT: Do you still— are you still raising that at this point now?
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm sure they corrected it, but the entire transcript has ellipses, and now it's going to say "unintelligible." I'm just telling you, we haven't seen it.
JUDGE EVERETT: I understand what you're telling me. I didn't want to take away your break, but this would have been a good time to watch the video, if you had concerns about the video.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It wasn't concluded until towards the end of the break, Your Honor, so that wouldn't do.
JUDGE EVERETT: All right. Do you wish to watch this further now?
MR. RASHBAUM: I think maybe give us 10, 15 minutes to scroll through it.
JUDGE EVERETT: Granted. Make sure you make good use of this time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah, Judge, would Your Honor be willing to do the next witness? I'm not publishing this item through that witness, but he does have a plane to catch, so if we could take our break after him, that'd be great.
JUDGE EVERETT: That's fine.
COURT STAFF: This is Mr. McElveen?