Witness · Adelson Institute for Aesthetics

Erika Johnson

Adelson Institute front-desk employee and prosecution witness in two trials who authenticated the intercepted call she placed to Charlie Adelson when law enforcement arrived seeking Katherine Magbanua's employment records.

Appeared Magbanua Retrial Charlie Adelson

Mentioned Donna Adelson

178 lines · 6 appearances · 13 mentions · 3 trials

About

Johnson is the only identified witness across the archive who authenticated the intercepted June 1, 2016 call to Charlie Adelson, making her testimony the primary evidentiary foundation for that exhibit in both trials in which it was introduced. Her direct examination in two trials also provides the contemporaneous account of Adelson Institute staffing and payroll practices against which Magbanua's claimed employment relationship with the Adelson family was assessed.

Across Trials

Johnson's role was substantively consistent across the first two trials: prosecution witness called to establish Magbanua's non-employee status and introduce the June 1, 2016 intercepted call. The principal evidentiary difference between those two appearances was the exhibit designation — Exhibit 100 in the first trial, Exhibit 106 in the second — and the presence of a Crawford admissibility motion in the first trial contesting the testimonial character of Johnson's statements on the call, a challenge that does not appear in the second trial record. Cross-examination in the second trial was broader in scope, adding CDR call contextualization through the July 16, 2014 dinner between Johnson and Charlie Adelson and developing their personal relationship more extensively than in the first trial; Johnson's own payroll records were raised as an evidentiary gap in the first trial that was not resolved, while the second trial foregrounded the landline-switch detail as a prosecution consciousness-of-guilt inference not prominent in the first. By the third trial Johnson's role contracted entirely to that of a peripheral person referenced once in a single proceeding, with no direct testimony and no substantive detail in the record about the inquiry she handled.

Trial Record (19)

KM Magbanua Retrial May 18, 2022 – May 27, 2022

Trial Summary

Prosecution witness and eleven-year Adelson Institute front-desk employee called to establish that Katherine Magbanua was not on staff during 2014–2016, to describe payroll and advance-check norms at the practice, and to authenticate the intercepted call she placed to Charlie Adelson when FBI agents arrived with a subpoena for Magbanua's employment records.

Appearances (3)

Direct

Erika Johnson - Direct

Day 4 Cross

Erika Johnson - Cross

Day 4 Redirect

Erika Johnson - Redirect

Day 4

Mentioned (7)

Direct

Clariza Lebredo - Direct

Day 4 Procedural

Pre-Testimony Motions: Exhibit 100 Ruling and Crawford Challenge to Adelson Wiretaps Adelson Institute employee whose failure to turn over employment records — the State contends as a subsequent reaction to Exhibit 100 — is the stated purpose for admitting the call

Day 5 Procedural

Lunch Recess and Exhibit Preview — FBI Undercover Bump Calls

Day 5 Cross

Mary Hull - Cross Adelson Institute employee whose payroll records were not obtained for comparison with Magbanua's check patterns

Day 5 Redirect

Mary Hull - Redirect Named as Adelson Institute employee who could explain Donna Adelson's check-writing practices

Day 5 Direct

Patrick Sanford - Direct (Part 1) Adelson Institute office manager; called Charlie Adelson on the wiretap while FBI agents were present with subpoena; told FBI she was 'just told' Magbanua worked there on weekends

Day 5 Direct

Patrick Sanford - Direct (Part 3)

Day 6

CA Charlie Adelson Oct 26, 2023 – Nov 6, 2023

Trial Summary

Eleven-year front desk employee and Charlie Adelson's assistant at the Adelson Institute, called by the prosecution to establish Katherine Magbanua's non-employee status and introduce State's Exhibit 106 — a recorded call she placed to Charlie on June 1, 2016, when law enforcement arrived seeking Magbanua's employment records.

Appearances (3)

Direct

Erika Johnson - Direct

Day 3 Cross

Erika Johnson - Cross

Day 3 Redirect

Erika Johnson - Redirect

Day 3

Mentioned (5)

Cross

Katherine Magbanua - Cross Mentioned as the person Charlie dined with on July 16, 2014 — the night before the murder — used by Rashbaum to probe Magbanua's memory of the pre-murder days

Day 3 Direct

Clariza Lebredo - Direct

Day 3 Procedural

Partial Admission of Composite Text Exhibit; Direct Examination Scheduling Rashbaum references her as the subject of a Charlie Adelson dinner, offered to explain CDR calls to Magbanua on the evening of July 16

Day 6 Direct

Charlie Adelson - Direct (Part 5)

Day 6 Rebuttal

Rebuttal Closing - Georgia Cappleman

Day 8

DA Donna Adelson Aug 22, 2025 – Sep 4, 2025

Trial Summary

Named in testimony as an Adelson Institute employee to whom a witness referred an unidentified inquiry when the witness lacked knowledge of the matter.

Mentioned (1)

Direct

Clariza Lebredo - Direct

Day 3