Erika Johnson — Direct/Cross/Redirect
220 linesJUDGE WHEELER: All right, State may call its next witness, Erica Johnson, please.
MS. DUGAN: I apologize to the jury — we are going to stay a little bit later today, but we have one witness that has a scheduling issue, and so we'd like to get her testimony today.
JUDGE WHEELER: Okay, thank you.
MS. DUGAN: Good afternoon, Ms. Johnson.
ERIKA JOHNSON: Good afternoon.
JUDGE WHEELER: If you could come right up here to the witness stand.
JUDGE WHEELER: Before you have a seat, we're going to swear you in, okay? Okay. Please raise your right hand and respond to the clerk.
COURT CLERK: Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
JUDGE WHEELER: All right. Please have a seat.
JUDGE WHEELER: Okay. I just need you to scoot up. Please have a seat. Scoot up as close as possible to that microphone, okay? Speak loud and clear into that, all right? Okay. Thank you.
MS. DUGAN: Good afternoon, Miss Johnson. Will you tell us your name and spell it for our court reporter, please?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Erica Johnson.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Is that Erica with a K?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: For the court, okay?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes, ma'am. E-R-I-K-A. And the last name is Johnson, J-O-H-N-S-O-N.
MS. DUGAN: Thank you. All right. So, um, were you employed at the Adelson Institute for a number of years?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. How many years?
ERIKA JOHNSON: 11.
MS. DUGAN: 11. Okay. And do you work now at the dental practice that the Adelson Institute was sold to?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And that was about a year ago, I guess?
ERIKA JOHNSON: They're about six months.
MS. DUGAN: Six months ago. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. All right, what do you do there?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Front desk.
MS. DUGAN: Did you also work as a — as an assistant to Charlie, like a dental assistant to Charlie Adelson?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: All right. What were your tasks at the front desk?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Answering the phone, making appointments, processing insurance.
MS. DUGAN: Were you the primary person who did that for Adelson Institute?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Did any other employees do those things?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Did you also handle patient payments and quote prices for payments?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Did Adelson Institute — did they often deal in cash?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Would discounts be given for services if they were paid in cash versus a credit card?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Um, all right, I want to ask you specifically about 2014 to 2016.
MS. DUGAN: Can you tell me the names of the folks who were employed at Adelson Institute during that time?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Myself, Clariza Lebredo, uh, Amy DiStefano, that's it.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And Amy was a hygienist, correct?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. DUGAN: And, uh, Clariza Lebredo just came out of here when you were coming in?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And then Harvey, Donna, and Charlie Adelson were also there, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: All right. Donna Adelson, what did she do at Adelson Institute?
ERIKA JOHNSON: She was the office manager.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Was she responsible for payroll, for cutting the checks?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And did you report to her?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: All right. The Adelson Institute hours back then, what were they?
ERIKA JOHNSON: I think Monday through Thursday, 8 to 5, I think.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And was Wednesday your late day, 11 to 7?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: All right. If somebody called the office and the office was closed, would that call go to voicemail?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And whose responsibility would it be to check that voicemail once the office opened again?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Mine.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. I want to talk to you about a couple of law enforcement officers coming to the Adelson Institute on June 1st of 2016. Do you remember that?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: All right, and did they ask you about Katherine Magbanua?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Did they ask you whether or not she worked at Adelson Institute?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And did they ask you for employee records of her?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Were you able to provide them with any records?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, do you have access to those records?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Who has access to those records?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Dr. Adelson.
MS. DUGAN: Same meaning Harvey or Charlie or both?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Um, probably both. I don't know. It's probably going to be Donna. It's probably going to be Donna that has the records.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Um, well, were any of them there when the FBI agents came by?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Um, when police asked you for the employee records, did you call Donna?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Did you call Harvey?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Who did you call?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Charlie.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Um, when you were asking him questions about — or, I guess, letting him know what was going on — um, did you, uh, kind of go back in the office to make that phone call?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: All right. Did you — did you have an opportunity to hear that phone call before court today?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: You didn't know at the time that that phone call was being recorded, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Um, when you listened to the call, uh, was that your voice and Charlie Adelson's voice conversing?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And that was, um, uh, an accurate — from your memory, an accurate recording of that conversation?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes. From my memory.
MS. DUGAN: And for the record, the recording that I showed her was, uh, pre-marked as State's Exhibit 100.
MS. DUGAN: All right. When you — after you advised Mr. Adelson of what was going on, did he tell you — give you some instructions as to what you could do?
JUDGE WHEELER: Say the question again.
MS. DUGAN: Did he give you some instruction as to what to do?
JUDGE WHEELER: That's sustained.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. After you hung up with him did you receive a cell call — a cell phone call — from a landline from him?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Not that I can remember.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. After that phone call with Charlie Adelson, um, let me ask you this. Do you know the defendant in this case, Katherine Magbanua?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: And how do you know her?
ERIKA JOHNSON: From being Charlie's girlfriend and a patient in the office.
MS. DUGAN: Have you ever seen her work at Adelson Institute?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Does the Adelson Institute have a cleaning service that comes?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And are they, uh, like a husband and wife team?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Is, I guess, the wife part of that husband and wife team — is that Katherine Magbanua?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Do you get paid yearly or by the hour?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yearly?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No, by the hour.
MS. DUGAN: By the hour? Okay.
MS. DUGAN: And how often do you get paid, or did you get paid back in 2014 to 2016?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Biweekly.
MS. DUGAN: Biweekly?
ERIKA JOHNSON: I think, yeah.
MS. DUGAN: Would you ever get paid for weeks of work in advance?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, when would that occur?
ERIKA JOHNSON: If they would go on vacation.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And would you ever get, I guess it would be, two paychecks at a time when that happened?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Sometimes.
MS. DUGAN: Would you ever get three at a time?
ERIKA JOHNSON: I think it would be three.
MS. DUGAN: Would you ever get four, five, six at a time?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Are you aware of any of Charlie Adelson's girlfriends being on the payroll at Adelson Institute?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: In the time that you have been at Adelson Institute, obviously before the pandemic, have you ever been aware of any employee that worked exclusively by phone or remotely?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: And would you get paid — I think your checks around that time, were they about $589 biweekly? Okay. And that was at about 28 hours a week at $11.50 an hour?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. That's all I have. Thank you.
JUDGE WHEELER: Cross-examination.
MS. KAWASS: Hi. Ms. Johnson, how are you doing today?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Okay.
MS. KAWASS: So this is not the first time you've given information about this case, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. KAWASS: All right. In fact, you actually testified before that you were not sure whether or not Katie was an employee?
ERIKA JOHNSON: That is correct.
MS. KAWASS: You actually gave that sworn statement back in 2017 when Ms. Cappleman was present, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: That is correct.
MS. KAWASS: Okay. You actually testified as well that it's possible she only worked on Fridays?
ERIKA JOHNSON: That is correct.
MS. KAWASS: Okay. And you also testified that you only know of the people who — you are only to testify about people who work there during your work hours, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. KAWASS: All right. And you have no idea how or who or what checks Donna Adelson writes?
ERIKA JOHNSON: That is correct.
MS. KAWASS: Okay. She could write checks to whomever she pleases in her — in the business that is owned by her family, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. KAWASS: You don't go and question her about who is getting checks and for what reason?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. KAWASS: Okay. You only know about your checks?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. KAWASS: Okay. And the State asked you about getting checks in advance. Did Donna ever write checks in advance of pay period but not give them until later?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. KAWASS: Okay. So she only provided them to you at the time that the — at the time that your services were provided?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. KAWASS: But you were on a set schedule, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. KAWASS: Okay. And you've been on that schedule for the whole time that you were there?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. KAWASS: Now, when these FBI agents came into the Adelson Institute and they asked for these records, did they provide you with a subpoena? I —
ERIKA JOHNSON: — can't remember.
MS. KAWASS: You remember them handing you documents that way? Okay, so you remember documents?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. KAWASS: But you don't know what the documents were?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. KAWASS: Is the reason why you called Charlie was because they specifically asked you about Katie?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. KAWASS: And as far as you knew, Katie was his girlfriend?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. KAWASS: Not Harvey's girlfriend, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Right.
MS. KAWASS: Not Donna's girlfriend?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. KAWASS: That's why you called Charlie first?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Yes.
MS. KAWASS: No further questions.
JUDGE WHEELER: Redirect.
MS. DUGAN: You said that you never saw Katherine Magbanua while working there?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. You said — you don't know what's going on when you're not working there, though, when you said it was possible?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Correct.
MS. DUGAN: All right, but possible she worked on a Friday — is Adelson Institute open on Fridays?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No, we're open Monday through Thursday.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, Monday through Thursday. And you didn't — would you schedule patients on a Friday?
ERIKA JOHNSON: No.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, so Adelson Institute is closed on Fridays — no one's working there at that time?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Not when I'm there. I'm there Monday through Thursday. I don't know what happens on Fridays.
MS. DUGAN: Right. But Adelson Institute is not open on Friday, right? Y'all don't schedule patients on Friday, right?
ERIKA JOHNSON: Okay.
MS. DUGAN: That's all.
JUDGE WHEELER: All right, we can excuse the witness. Okay, all right, thank you, ma'am, you're free to go.
JUDGE WHEELER: All right, that concludes the testimony for today. Uh, so before you go, just my daily reminders to you: not to have any conversations, don't look at the internet, any local news reports, no conversations with friends or family or with each other, and we'll see everybody back tomorrow at 8:30. We'll start promptly after that. Okay, all right, thank you all very much.
JUDGE WHEELER: All right. Sure, he's out of the courtroom, the door is closed. Madam court reporter is going to use the restroom, and then when she gets back, we're going to just continue for a short time just to get everything organized for tomorrow. Okay, let's just hold on for a second. Everyone may be seated. Thank you.
JUDGE WHEELER: We are back on the record. And, uh, I just want to address a few things. First of all, so that we can have some certainty moving forward in regards to the jail calls, I'm going to rule on that motion at this time. And the court is going to rule that any calls between Ms. Kawass and Garcia are not going to be admissible, and come and find that they are work product and they won't be admissible at trial. The remainder of the calls, I'm separating into, uh, two types of calls: there's the ones that are in English and there's the ones that are in Spanish. And therefore the remainder of these calls are what I'm going to have a Richardson hearing on. The ones that involve Ms. Kawass, I don't need to, because they're not admissible, they're not coming in. So the remainder of the calls, I'm going to find that the failure to turn those calls over to you, particularly before trial, is not willful — it was inadvertent, because these are just recent calls — and I'm going to find that the State turned them over to you when it came to their attention or when they had them in their hands in order to turn them over to you. I'm also going to find that, according to the State's representations, that they're only going to be used for impeachment purposes, and so they're not substantial given the fact that they're not coming in in the case in chief. As far as being prejudicial, I'm gonna — this is where I'm going to make the distinction between the English calls and the Spanish calls. The Spanish calls, now we're having to go through this whole process at the eleventh hour in regards to having an interpreter and transcribing the phone calls and whether that's an accurate transcription. And we are in the middle of trial and getting close to the end of the State's case, I would assume.
JUDGE WHEELER: So any of the Spanish calls, I'm going to find that the process that we are going through now — the transcription and having to provide that to the defense — is more prejudicial, and I'm not going to permit those to be admitted. We don't even know what they say. None of us know what they say, and they haven't been transcribed yet because I haven't signed the order. And it's just — it's too late in the game for them to be admitted, and because it's too prejudicial to the defense.
JUDGE WHEELER: So any of those Spanish calls, I'm not even going to sign the order, because I'm not going to take up the court's resources to have those transcribed. If you choose to do that on your own, then that's up to you all. In regards to the ones that were in English, they were clear — there wasn't any issue with any translation or any difficulty in hearing what they say — and so those conversations are not prejudicial. They've been in the defense's possession since last Friday. They had all weekend to go over them. They know for what purposes they are going to be used, and therefore I'm going to allow those to be admissible. The State's represented that they're clearly for impeachment purposes, and so I'll accept their representation on that. So the English ones will be admissible because I find that they are not prejudicial under the Richardson hearing test that is applicable under the Richardson hearing test.
JUDGE WHEELER: Going forward, my understanding is that there may be some other jail calls, and I don't know from when they are or if they're recent or from this weekend or whatever.
JUDGE WHEELER: Moving forward, there's nothing that's going to be admissible in regards to jail recordings. The court's not even going to review those. We can't have this going on where we don't know what to expect in regards to evidence and what's going to be admissible, and it would be overly prejudicial to the defense to have any of those admitted at this point in the presentation of the State's case. And so if there are any further ones, I'm putting you on notice right now that they won't be admitted. Okay, so that clears that up in regards to the phone calls as to what's admissible and what is not. Now, Ms. Dugan, we had two witnesses that were remaining on this witness list, so I take it that you'll be calling Ms. Rodriguez and Ms. Hull as the first two witnesses tomorrow?
MS. DUGAN: Okay.
JUDGE WHEELER: And then what — do you know what other witnesses you anticipate?
JUDGE WHEELER: Right, so — all right, so it'd be the audio evidence then. And so before the audio evidence, we will have the hearing so that you can make your motion on the record in regards to any Crawford argument that you want to make in regards to playing of those three calls between Charlie Adelson and Donna Adelson, and I'll allow you to get that on the record and I'll make my ruling on that. So if those are going to be played, then maybe we can have that — if they're gonna be played in the afternoon, we can have it right before the testimony in the afternoon. Okay. So given that, I guess it depends on the video, Ms. Dugan, as to whether or not that would be played tomorrow, as to whether or not the State would be resting tomorrow or on Wednesday.
JUDGE WHEELER: All right, so your goal is tomorrow — unlikely — and so you're looking at resting on Wednesday, probably by lunchtime on Wednesday. Is that what you're anticipating?
MS. DUGAN: Okay.
JUDGE WHEELER: Mr. DeCoste, if and when Agent Sanford testifies, I imagine his cross is going to be rather lengthy. All right, I would anticipate that it's going to be a Wednesday resting that we would take up. When is Sanford testifying? Is that tomorrow?
MS. DUGAN: We have him on the schedule originally for tomorrow. It could possibly be Wednesday, though.
JUDGE WHEELER: Is he the one where the video is coming in with?
MS. DUGAN: I think the video would be — the video and Pat Sanford.
JUDGE WHEELER: All right. Okay. So in all likelihood, resting will be sometime on Wednesday, it appears.
JUDGE WHEELER: With that, then also we need to start looking at jury instructions, so I would expect a draft of those to the court by Wednesday — and that would be not Wednesday at the end of the day, but by Wednesday morning — and as usual, probably provide a copy to the defense. All right, so I think that takes care of things moving forward: who will be called and when, and any rulings on any outstanding motions other than the hearing that we need to have on the Crawford issue prior to the playing of those recorded calls. Okay, Ms. Dugan, is there anything else on behalf of the state? Anything from the defense? All right, thank you. All right, we'll be in recess then till tomorrow, 8:45. Thank you everyone, have a good evening.