Dan Markel — Case Archive

Law enforcement · FBI

Louis Bronstein

FBI special agent who recorded the April 20, 2016 Dolce Vita restaurant meeting between Charlie Adelson and Katherine Magbanua and testified as a witness in four trials.

Appeared Garcia–Magbanua Magbanua Retrial Charlie Adelson Donna Adelson

189 lines · 10 appearances · 2 mentions · 4 trials

About

Bronstein provided the authentication foundation used to admit the Dolce Vita recording in each trial. Because the same afternoon and the same evidence were revisited in the Garcia–Magbanua 2019 trial, the Magbanua 2022 retrial, the Charlie Adelson 2023 trial, and the Donna Adelson 2025 trial, his testimony offers a stable, repeatedly tested account of how a central piece of evidence was created — including a clear record of what the agent on the scene could actually hear and see, as distinct from what the device captured.

Across Trials

Bronstein's core account changed very little across the four trials — same date, same restaurant, same messenger bag, same acknowledgment that he could not follow the conversation in real time — but the treatment he received from the defense varied considerably, and the exhibit numbers attached to the recording differed in each case. In the Garcia–Magbanua 2019 trial he faced two separate cross-examinations, one probing his junior status and whether surveillance had ever been aimed at Garcia and Magbanua together, the other testing his report-writing practice and what he could see, including whether a document was passed at the table. In the Charlie Adelson 2023 trial Dan Rashbaum cross-examined him after the recording was admitted over a preserved defense objection. The Magbanua 2022 retrial was the only trial where a mid-trial exhibit numbering error required him to be held outside the courtroom and recalled, still under oath, to complete the foundation. By the Donna Adelson 2025 trial his account went unchallenged: the defense waived cross-examination entirely, the recording and four exterior photographs came in without objection, and he was released without recall. The arc is one of steady, largely uncontested testimony whose evidentiary weight shifted from contested foundation toward settled background.

Trial Record (12)

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

Trial Summary

Testified on trial day 8 as an FBI Miami special agent who participated in the April 20, 2016 covert surveillance of a meeting between Charlie Adelson and Katherine Magbanua at the Dolce Vita restaurant in Sunny Isles, and authenticated the resulting recording.

Testimony (3)

Louis Bronstein - Direct

Louis Bronstein - Cross

Louis Bronstein - Cross

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

Trial Summary

Testified on the trial's fifth day as the FBI special agent who conducted the restaurant surveillance, describing what he could and could not observe or hear, then was recalled the same day to lay foundation for the raw surveillance exhibit.

Testimony (3)

Louis Bronstein - Direct

Louis Bronstein - Cross

Louis Bronstein - Direct (Recall)

Mentioned (1)

Exhibit Mix-Up Corrected: Dolce Vita Recordings 114 and 116 Clarified Out of Jury

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

Trial Summary

Deployed as an FBI surveillance agent at the April 20, 2016 Dolce Vita restaurant meeting, Bronstein authenticated State's Exhibit 109 — the covert audio/video recording of Charlie Adelson and Katherine Magbanua — and testified to the conditions under which it was captured.

Testimony (2)

Louis Bronstein - Direct

Louis Bronstein - Cross

Mentioned (1)

Christopher Corbitt - Redirect

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

Trial Summary

Called by the prosecution to authenticate the April 20, 2016 Dolce Vita covert recording, Bronstein testified about his supporting surveillance role — receiving concealed recording equipment and positioning himself at an adjacent table while Charlie Adelson and Katherine Magbanua met inside the restaurant.

Testimony (2)

Louis Bronstein - Direct

Louis Bronstein - Cross (Waived)