Clariza Lebredo — Direct/Cross/Redirect
192 linesJUDGE EVERETT: Everyone can be seat. State, you may call your next witness.
MS. DUGAN: The State calls Clariza Lebredo.
JUDGE EVERETT: Do you swear and affirm the testimony you are about to give will be the truth?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes, I do.
JUDGE EVERETT: You may take your seat. Please speak loudly and clearly. Adjust the microphone if you need to.
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Okay.
MS. DUGAN: Will you tell us your name and spell your name for our court reporter, please?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: My name is Clariza — C-L-A-R-I-Z-A — Spoltore, S-P-O-L-T-O-R-E.
MS. DUGAN: Thank you. Did you recently get married?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Congratulations.
MS. DUGAN: What was your name before you got married?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Lebredo.
MS. DUGAN: Lebredo. Okay. Okay. All right. So where do you currently work?
MS. DUGAN: Where do you work?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: I worked at the Adelson Institute.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And you currently work for a dental practice that took over for the Adelson Institute? Okay. Thank you. How long did you work at the Adelson Institute?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Over 40 years.
MS. DUGAN: And where is the Adelson Institute located?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: In Tamarack.
MS. DUGAN: Was the exact address of the Adelson Institute 7737 University Drive in Tamarack?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Correct.
MS. DUGAN: Is Tamarack near Coral Springs?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And I want to talk about the positions at the Adelson Institute going back to 2013-2016.
MS. DUGAN: What was your position?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: I was Dr. Adelson's dental assistant.
MS. DUGAN: Was that Dr. Harvey Adelson?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Dr. Harvey Adelson, yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Did you ever work the front desk?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, so worked as his personal assistant.
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Worked as his assistant.
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And what about Donna Adelson? Did she work there during that time?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And what did she do there?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: She was the office manager. She worked up front.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Did she keep the books, do the payroll, that sort of thing?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: What about Charlie Adelson? What was his role there?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Charlie was our periodontist.
CLARIZA LEBREDO: He's a dentist.
MS. DUGAN: Dentist, okay.
MS. DUGAN: And the 40 years that you worked there, you worked for Harvey Adelson all of those 40 years?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Was there also an employee during — and I'm talking about the years 2014 to 2016 — in addition to yourself, Dr. Harvey Adelson, Dr. Charlie Adelson, was there also an employee named Erica Johnson?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, and what was her role?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: She worked up front, and she was Charlie's assistant.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, and we talked about Donna Adelson and her role. What about — did you have a hygienist named Amy?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes, we always had a hygienist.
MS. DUGAN: Were there any other employees that you can think of during that time at the Adelson Institute other than the ones I just named?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: Any other dentists besides Harvey and Charlie?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: You mentioned that Charlie is a periodontist.
MS. DUGAN: Did he also, in addition to working at the Adelson Institute, did he travel around and do that type of work for other dental offices as well?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: How often was he in the Adelson Institute office?
MS. DUGAN: Ballpark.
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Once a month.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, so one time a month he's going to serve his clients for the Adelson Institute, and other than that he's traveling around to all different offices.
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Who was the boss at the Adelson Institute in your understanding? Who did you think was the boss?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Dr. Harvey Adelson.
MS. DUGAN: What were the Adelson Institute's business hours back in 2014–2016? Did y'all have Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, eight to five?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Monday, yes, and we had one late night.
MS. DUGAN: Was it 11 to seven?
MS. DUGAN: Okay, was that Wednesday?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: It was Wednesday.
MS. DUGAN: And then off on Fridays?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: We were off on Friday.
MS. DUGAN: And no work on Saturday or Sunday?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: Who had access to the employee records at Adelson Institute?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Dr. Adelson and Donna.
MS. DUGAN: Dr. Adelson meaning Harvey, or Charlie, or both?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Harvey Adelson.
MS. DUGAN: Was that something that you had access to or would know anything about?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: How do you know Katherine Magbanua?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: I know her from the office. She was a patient there.
MS. DUGAN: So she actually came and got dental work done there?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Was she like a regular, or just came in once or twice?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Once or twice.
MS. DUGAN: Did you ever see her at Adelson Institute doing anything other than being a patient those one or two times?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: One time or two times? Okay.
MS. DUGAN: Did you ever see her working at the Adelson Institute in any capacity?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: How did you get paid by Adelson Institute?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: By checks.
MS. DUGAN: And how often?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Every two weeks.
MS. DUGAN: Did you ever get paid for weeks of work prior to completing your work?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: When would that happen? When would, like, when might you get advance pay or get more than one paycheck at a time?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: If they were going away on vacation, then we would get the checks before.
MS. DUGAN: They being?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: I mean Mr. Adelson and Donna.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, so if Harvey and Donna are going on a vacation that may last two weeks or more, they're gonna go ahead and pay y'all in advance so you don't go without.
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Right.
MS. DUGAN: And how often would that happen?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Once a year, twice.
MS. DUGAN: Would you ever get four or five, six paychecks in a row?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: Were you ever aware of any Adelson Institute employee in the history of the 40 years you were there that worked exclusively by phone or remotely?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: Did the Adelson Institute, back in 2013 to 2016, did y'all have a cleaning service?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And would those — the cleaning service — was it a husband-and-wife team?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Was Katherine Magbanua the wife part of that team?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: Do you remember back in 2016, okay, when two law enforcement officers came to Adelson Institute and were asking some questions?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, and were they asking questions about Katherine Magbanua?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Did you — since you didn't know anything — did you refer them to Erica Johnson, another employee?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, and did Erica Johnson speak with them?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Prior to court today, did you have an opportunity to listen to State's 100, which is the recorded call that you were played, which was a conversation between a man and a woman?
MS. DUGAN: Is that a yes?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, thank you. I saw you nodding. I've got to ask you.
MS. DUGAN: When you listened to that conversation, did you recognize the voices in State's 100?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Yes. Who was the woman in the call?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Erica Johnson.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, and you said she was an employee at Adelson Institute?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And she — one of her roles was being Charlie's assistant?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And did you say she also kind of works in the front office?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes, she did.
MS. DUGAN: Who was the male voice on State's 100?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Charlie.
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Charlie Adelson.
MS. DUGAN: Charlie Adelson. And did you work with both of them for many years?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MR. ZELMAN: I want to direct your attention back to the time frame 2013-2014, did the office have an old-style answering machine?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MR. ZELMAN: So would it play a recording if somebody didn't pick up?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MR. ZELMAN: Okay. And you had to — you had to go to the machine and play the messages at the machine, correct? In your 40 years of knowing my client, Mrs. Adelson, did she ever speak badly about Dan Markel?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MR. ZELMAN: Isn't it true that you would — you would call the Adelson family, Donna and Harvey, a hard-working family?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MR. ZELMAN: Just a moment, Your Honor.
MR. ZELMAN: Nothing further.
JUDGE EVERETT: Any redirect to the witness?
MS. DUGAN: Yes, sir.
MS. DUGAN: Back during that time period, if a patient were to call Adelson Institute and it was closed — maybe because it's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday — would that call be routed to voicemail?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And then would you have — would the voicemail be able to be checked from there? If it's checked by someone in the office, that would be Monday morning?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Do you know who else had access to that voicemail?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: You and Donna Adelson had a friendly relationship throughout your time at Adelson Institute?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Did you socialize or spend time together outside of work, or was your friendly relationship at work?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: At work.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. So while at work, you never heard her say anything negative about Dan Markel?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: But you didn't spend time with her outside of the office?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: We've gone out on occasions, but...
MS. DUGAN: Not regularly?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: I'm sorry?
MS. DUGAN: Not on a regular basis?
CLARIZA LEBREDO: No.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Thank you.
JUDGE EVERETT: You may step down. Will the witness be recalled at all?
MS. DUGAN: No, sir.
JUDGE EVERETT: You are released from your subpoena. Have a good day.
JUDGE EVERETT: Please call your next witness.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State calls Katherine Magbanua.
JUDGE EVERETT: Members of the jury we'll take a brief break. The bailiff will take you to the jury room.
MS. DUGAN: Can we see it?
JUDGE EVERETT: Yes.
JUDGE EVERETT: Preemptively, before this comes up during the testimony — Mrs. Adelson, I'm going to remind you again not to have any emotional reactions while the testimony is going on. No head shaking, no nodding, nothing to indicate that you either disagree or agree with what's happening. Do you understand?
MS. DUGAN: That is going to be Sergeant Corbitt, and he will need just a second to get situated. So is that okay?
JUDGE EVERETT: That's fine.
MS. DUGAN: Thank you.
JUDGE EVERETT: For how long the Magbanua will take as a witness, do you believe we will still get Sergeant Corbitt today?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: We have until 5:30. I think we can start today.
JUDGE EVERETT: Well, we can start a lot of things, but we will not finish him today in all likelihood.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: We won't finish him today.
JUDGE EVERETT: All right.
JUDGE EVERETT: You can remain seated for right now, please. Check if the jurors are ready.