Controversial TV ad drawing interest

Friday, April 7, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

A 15-second television commercial soliciting public opinion about the Ted Binion murder trial and financed by the defense is believed to be the first advertisement of its kind in the country.

The sponsors of the ad, the brainchild of Binion defense consultant Bill Cassidy, hope it will generate enough response to create a "model" jury that mirrors the demographics of the real 12-member jury. The defense could then use its model jury to help pursue a courtroom strategy that best serves co-defendants Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish.

Through Thursday, the ad generated nearly 400 telephone calls from individuals who have agreed to volunteer their thoughts on the case.

"This is the shadow jury of the information age," Cassidy said. "This has never been done before. I have already received a number of calls from many attorneys around the country, some quite prominent, who want us to do this same thing for them."

Two officials with the American Society of Trial Consultants, vice president Karen Lisko of Denver and secretary/treasurer Matt Milano of Dallas, said they knew of no prior case where an ad soliciting public opinion ran on television during a trial.

"This is highly unusual," Lisko said. "I've never heard of such an ad. But there's not an ethical issue as long as the intent of the feedback they're getting from the public is to better communicate the evidence in the case."

But UNLV ethics professor Craig Walton said he believes such ads could harm the judicial process if they give the defense an unfair advantage over the prosecution.

"It's alarming from that point of view," Walton said. "You could take a freedom of speech argument in favor of the ads. But is there not supposed to be a contravening ad? Should we have equal time? How do we get the fairness back?

"If the jury isn't sequestered, are any of them seeing the ads and will it shade their judgment? Those are questions that have to be raised."

The ad was put together by a newly formed limited liability company, Trial Consultants of Nevada, which includes Cassidy, veteran Las Vegas advertising pro Tom Letizia, and political consultants Jim Ferrence and Mike Sullivan of the Paladin Agency.

The ad, which runs on Las Vegas 1 during breaks in the trial coverage, was written by Letizia and includes his voice. It began airing last Friday.

"Trial Consultants of Nevada would like to know your thoughts about the Binion trial," Letizia says in the ad. "If you ever wanted to serve on a jury, this is your chance. Call Magellan Research at 967-6777. Let us know your opinion. Call now and you be the judge."

The Trial Consultants logo, a partially submerged whale with a harpoon in its tail, flashes on the TV screen, followed by photographs of Binion, Tabish and Murphy. The ad ends with the logo and phone number for Magellan, a Las Vegas company that has conducted political polls for Paladin.

"I didn't want it to be too cute or clever," Letizia said of the ad. "It was a straightforward message. I wanted to keep it simple. The message had to be straightforward in order to preserve the integrity of the court."

The involvement of the Trial Consultants team is noteworthy because they all played major roles in Oscar Goodman's successful mayoral campaign in Las Vegas last year. Goodman, a famed trial lawyer who defended numerous reputed mobsters, was one of Murphy's lawyers when she was originally charged in the September 1998 slaying of former gaming executive Binion. Goodman turned the case over to law partner David Chesnoff while considering the mayoral bid.

Goodman confirmed last month that he declined an offer to serve on Murphy's defense team during the trial. But the Trial Consultants team has the mayor's imprint.

Cassidy, who took a leave of absence without pay from Goodman's City Hall staff to work on the trial, said the mayor has had a major influence on his career. Cassidy, who has worked on 360 trials, said he has been on the losing side of only one of the 65 homicide cases with which he has been involved.

Letizia, who has worked on about 30 local political campaigns, received nearly $500,000 in business for media ads and consulting services used by Goodman's campaign. And it was Paladin that helped get out the vote for Goodman.

Trial attorneys have long relied on consultants to perform such tasks as constructing profiles of ideal jurors and conducting mock trials. Many lawyers have employed individuals as "shadow" jurors to sit in the rear of the courtroom to get input on the clarity of testimony or to gain insight as to whether trial strategy is working.

But with an increasing number of trials being broadcast live on TV, Cassidy and his cohorts figured it made better sense to create their shadow jury by seeking input from the television audience.

"This is a very cost-effective technique," Cassidy said. "The cost of a shadow jury can run hundreds of thousands of dollars, but in this case I can get more bang for the buck for a lot less bucks."

The beauty of the TV ad, said Magellan owner Marvin Longabaugh, is that the pollsters can get "informed" input from people calling them that they know are watching the trial. Otherwise, the pollsters would have to make cold calls to individuals who may not want to participate.

Cassidy and Longabaugh declined to disclose the types of questions they have been asking respondents.

But one individual who responded to the ad told the Sun that the questions asked included name, address, phone number, age and length of residence in Clark County. The respondent was also asked to opine whether Murphy or Tabish were guilty, whether individuals were guilty simply because police arrested them, and whether arrested individuals should be forced to testify. Another question was whether the respondent had read about the trial in a newspaper or watched it on TV.

Longabaugh said that an individual who calls his office will usually get a call back from one of his employees by the next day. The respondent will be asked questions and then receive follow-up calls as the trial progresses.

Cassidy said the ad respondents who best fit the demographic profile of the real jury will be the ones whose input will be taken most seriously by the defense team. He already knows the demographic mix of the trial jury because he helped prepare that information for the defense.

But there are pitfalls, according to Milano, the Dallas trial consultant. He said the people who respond to the ad may not necessarily fit the demographic profile of the trial jury.

And Walton added that the commercial could set a dangerous precedent. He said it could turn the Binion proceedings into the type of circus atmosphere that enveloped the Los Angeles murder trial of former football star O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in 1995.

"It's making this into the O.J. trial of Las Vegas," Walton said of the ad. "If you turn this trial into a media event like in the O.J. case, then the system of justice is perverted completely. If they are going out there and trying to shape public opinion, what is the next step?

"It's going to allow those accused people who can attract money or who have plenty of money to have advertising that other accused felons don't have because they can't afford those resources."

Steve Kanigher is a staff writer for the Sun. He can be reached at (702)-259-4075 or by e-mail at steve@lasvegassun.com.

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