Judge · Leon County Circuit Court

Stephen Everett

Presiding circuit court judge in both Adelson murder-for-hire conspiracy trials before the Leon County Circuit Court.

3,348 lines · 2 trials

About

Everett is the sole judicial officer appearing across both Adelson trials, making his rulings the continuous procedural record connecting Trial 2 and Trial 3 within the case archive; his evidentiary and instructional decisions in both proceedings constitute the authoritative record of how contested legal questions — recorded call hearsay, demonstrative exhibit scope, sequestration compliance, and jury instruction language — were resolved at the circuit court level.

Across Trials

Everett's role category is identical across both trials — presiding judge with no change in court, jurisdiction, or legal framework — and the core management cadence is continuous between them. The Trial 3 record is marginally heavier by volume, with 155 proceedings versus 128 in Trial 2 and his speaker presence documented in 153 of 155. The evidentiary disputes differ in kind: Trial 2 centered on hearsay objections to recorded phone calls and the exclusion of a composite text message exhibit, while Trial 3 introduced a Richardson hearing on an enhanced recording, a ballistics stipulation read as a binding finding, and closing-argument restrictions on non-admitted calendar pages. Sequestration became an active enforcement matter in Trial 3, where Everett directly questioned defense counsel about a second violation and directed immediate resolution — a sharper intervention than the grant of the prosecution's sequestration request at the outset of Trial 2. The charge conference in Trial 3 resolved a lesser-included waiver and a calendar rule-of-completeness question absent from Trial 2, while Trial 2 included a standalone intent instruction dispute under Butler v. State. Post-verdict handling also diverges: Trial 2 concluded with a formal twelve-juror poll by name and a Zoom sentencing deferral for victim impact statements, while Trial 3 proceeded directly to statutory sentencing on Count 1 with no pre-sentence report ordered.

Trial Record (0)

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

Trial Summary

Presided over all eight recorded trial days in State of Florida v. Charles Adelson, managing gallery conduct, contested evidentiary rulings on recorded calls and demonstrative exhibits, jury instructions from preliminary through deliberation, and post-verdict proceedings through juror polling and sentencing deferral.

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

Trial Summary

Presided over all nine trial days in State v. Donna Adelson, managing gallery conduct, evidentiary rulings, jury instructions, and trial logistics from preliminary instructions through verdict and statutory sentencing on Count 1.