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person person Christopher DeCoste Christopher DeCoste Christopher DeCoste served as defense counsel for Katherine Magbanua in both of her Tallahassee murder trials, working alongside co-counsel Tara Kawass. ← All People
Defense · Defense team (Magbanua)

Christopher DeCoste

Courtroom still of Christopher DeCoste.

Defense attorney for Katherine Magbanua in both the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua joint trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial.

8,047 lines · 64 appearances · 2 trials

About

Because DeCoste represented Katherine Magbanua in both of her trials, his examinations provide a continuous view of recurring defense challenges to investigative recording and disclosure, phone-location limits, digital-record review, and the sourcing of cash deposits. They also show the change from the broad investigative, forensic, digital, financial, and wiretap record he tested in 2019 to the multi-day Rivera cross-examination and defense-witness presentation in the 2022 retrial.

Trial Record (64)

GM Garcia–Magbanua Sep 26, 2019 – Oct 11, 2019

Trial Summary

Appearing as co-counsel for Katherine Magbanua, handled the bulk of her cross-examinations across the eleven-day joint trial — detectives, forensic and digital-records witnesses, the FBI case agent, the wiretap supervisor, and the State's financial analyst — and delivered her closing argument.

Appearances (36)