Prior to asking my questions below, I repost the chronology of records (from court website) to ease comprehension.
Chronology of records
After the Tallahassee Democrat suggested in 9/9/2016 that maybe State Attorney Willie Meggs will never move against any of the Adelsons, Meggs declined to approve probable cause for the arrest of Magbanua and Charlie Adelson.
Thereafter, the TPD obtained the authoritative direct involvement of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Then, on 10/4/2016, two events occurred: (1) WARRANT ISSUED HOMICIDE-WILFUL KILL MURDER PREMEDITATED for KM and (2) NO BOND ALLOWED.
On 10/14/2016, there was (1) NOTICE OF APPEARANCE (private attorney Tara Kawass) and (2) NOTICE OF APPEARANCE PLEA OF NOT GUILTY AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL.
At the Pre-trial case management of 12/6/2016, three events are important (1) CASE COMMENTS FROM COURT EVENT ARRAIGNMENT HELD, (2) DEFENDANT PLED NOT GUILTY, and (3) TRIAL SET E-FILED: 2/27/2017 08:30 AM---JURY.
On 12/9/2016, KM team got (1) DENIED RICHARDSON HEARING REQUEST, (2) DENIED TRANSCRIPT OF GRAND JURY TESTIMONY OF LUIS RIVERA RELEASED FROM UNDER SEAL, and (3) ARTHUR HEARING - BOND DENIED.
At the court’s website under the “Communicating With Judge Hankinson’s Office About Pending Cases” heading, it is written “Impartiality is the most basic principle of judicial ethics. It means that all parties to a pending case are included in all communications with the court regarding that matter – no party has special or secret access to the judge. Communication to the judge without prior notice to the opponent is "ex parte" and improper except in extreme circumstances and as specifically provided by applicable law. If the litigant does not know of any applicable law permitting a particular "ex parte" communication it is improper.”
The important future dates are (1) PRE-TRIAL CASE MANAGEMENT on 2/6/2017, (2) PRE-TRIAL CASE MANAGEMENT on 2/23/2017, and (3) NON JURY TRIAL before Judge James C. Hankinson on 2/27/2017 at 8:30 AM.
Questions
1- Is it customary to have three PRE-TRIAL CASE MANAGEMENT meetings in Florida? Isn’t it more common to have only two? What is the purpose, advantages and disadvantages of having three?
2- What could be the reason that the defense demanded a jury trial on 10/14/2016; was granted a jury trial on 12/6/2017 for the trial date 2/27/2017; and yet, the court website now list NON JURY TRIAL before Judge James C. Hankinson on 2/27/2017 at 8:30 AM?
3- Given that the spirit and mechanics of JURY v. NON JURY trials are very different, what could be the reason of such flip? Given the judge denied the Richardson, transcripts, and Arthur requests, would it be wise for the defense to switch from jury to known jury?
4- Would it be plausible that the plea negotiation has started under the watch of the judge?
I realize the answer to this question is likely to be “yes”. Since the proceedings are secret, we will not know for sure if the answer is “yes” or “no”. However, I wonder if “the switch from jury trial to non-jury trial” is not a proxy for “the defendant turned state witness”?
5- Although a plea bargain may take place at any time while the status is OPEN, would it be an accurate remark to assume that most plea bargains in US courts occur during pre-trial case management? (KM will have two more on 2/6/2017 and 2/23/2017)
6- What could be the effect, if any, of the facts that the victim was a FSU school of law faculty and Judge James C. Hankinson is a FSU alumnus?
