Day 5 - August 28, 2025

Day 5 opened with a Richardson hearing outside the jury's presence. Judge Everett addressed two late-disclosure issues: an enhanced or clarified audio recording of a jail call between Donna Adelson and her son Robert — processed by audio forensics expert James McElveen and concerning their meeting at the pier — and a set of photographs taken during execution of a search warrant. As to the enhanced recording, the court formally found a discovery violation, characterized it as inadvertent given the defense's prior receipt of the original version, and found no prejudicial effect; the state agreed to let the defense choose which version would be published to the jury. The search-warrant photograph issue was deferred so defense counsel could review the materials privately with Donna Adelson; the courtroom and recording equipment were cleared for that review before the jury was seated. Patrick Sanford then continued his direct examination, presenting wiretap intercepts spanning April 20 through May 12, 2016. Sanford testified that investigators had publicly released only that they were looking for a green Prius; the State then highlighted a rental-car reference in a recorded conversation. The bump letter (State's 84), sent to the Adelson ICON condo and referencing "Toto," was admitted and read. The testimony and recordings followed several undercover contacts and the resulting calls among Charlie Adelson, Donna Adelson, Katherine Magbanua, and office staff. Donna returned an undercover caller's demand for $5,000, repeatedly denied knowledge or involvement, directed him toward the police reward, and did not agree to pay; Sanford said she did not contact police afterward. When investigators later served the Adelson Institute with a subpoena for Magbanua's employment records, an employee called Charlie. He initially told her not to speak, then immediately said she could speak to investigators and explained that the office belonged to his father and he could not provide its records. Sanford testified that the Institute produced only a list of checks already known to investigators, that surveillance had not shown Magbanua physically working there, and that she later said she did nothing to earn the checks. The day closed with a brief scheduling matter: defense counsel noted the prosecution had provided a one-page excerpt from Donna Adelson's 2014 planner with proposed redactions, requiring a conference before court resumed. The judge set the following morning's schedule accordingly.