Dan Markel case: A new judge was appointed a month before the start of the Charlie Adelson murder trial
With nearly a month left until jury selection, a new judge has been appointed to preside over the murder trial of Charlie Adelson, the ringleader accused in the plot to kill a Florida law professor. Dan Markel.
On Friday, Chief Judge Frank Allman of the 2nd Judicial Circuit assigned the high-profile case to Lyon Circuit Judge Steven Everett, who replaces Lyon Circuit Judge Robert Wheeler. The one-page order, which was entered into chambers, provided no explanation.
“From what I understand, the reason is that Judge Wheeler is no longer assigned to the criminal court,” said Elizabeth Garber, District Court Administrator for the Second Circuit. “He’s assigned to family court.”
An administrative order signed more than a year ago in June 2022 by then-Chief Judge Jonathan Sjostrom transferred Wheeler to the Family Division, where he is now assigned full time, Garber said.
Wheeler was given Adelson’s case shortly after the case South Florida dentist arrested in April 2022. During a hearing in February, Wheeler agreed to continue the trial From April until October after one of Adelson’s attorneys, Daniel Rashbaum of Miami, asked for more time. A trial date was set for October 23, which has not been changed.
Adelson is accused of orchestrating the murder-for-hire plot that led to Markel being shot execution-style in 2014 in the garage of his Peyton Hills home. The murder occurred amid a bitter custody battle between Adelson’s sister, Wendy Adelson, and Markel over their two sons.
The killers Sigredo Garcia and Luis Rivera with Catherine Magbanua, the mother of Garcia’s children who also dated Charlie Adelson, were all previously convicted on murder charges. Wheeler presided over Magbanua’s second trial in May 2022.
Neither Assistant District Attorney Georgia Kappelman nor Rashbaum had any comment on the change in judges.
It was Everett, a former assistant district attorney and assistant public defender He was appointed judge of Leon County In 2016 by the then Govt. Rick Scott to fill the vacancy created by hiring Wheeler to the ring bench.
In 2018, Everett was elected unopposed. He was He was appointed to the circuit bench In 2019 by Governor Ron DeSantis. In July, Everett began serving as administrative judge in the Circuit Court’s criminal division.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on the Tallahassee Democrat website: Dan Markel case: A new judge to oversee the Charlie Adelson murder trial
