Columnist Jeff German: Binion trial delivers in and out of courtroom

Sunday, April 23, 2000 | 9:25 a.m.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com.

There were many distractions outside the courtroom last week in the Ted Binion murder trial.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure scolded a Golden Nugget bellman for yelling "they're not guilty" to the jury as it went to lunch at the downtown resort.

An alternate juror was excused for talking about the case against the judge's orders while having her nails done.

Then defense investigator William Cassidy was accused of threatening the life of Tom Dillard, the Binion estate private detective credited with breaking open the murder case.

And let's not forget the defense-promoted seance to contact Binion's spirit. Psychics had no luck reaching the wealthy gambling figure to get his take on his death. But not surprisingly, in an 8-3 vote, they predicted murder defendants Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish wouldn't be convicted even though they may be guilty.

All that aside, the biggest news in this high-profile trial occurred inside the courtroom, as the prosecution's star witness, famed New York pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden, took the stand.

Baden, a consultant on some of this country's biggest murder cases, including O.J. Simpson's, spent nine hours on the stand defending his theory that the 55-year-old Binion was suffocated.

Much of his time involved deflecting biting questions from well-known Milwaukee attorney James Shellow, who was brought in specifically to demean and discredit Baden.

Shellow's in-your-face and sometimes condescending style did not appear to sit well with some jurors, who seemed to bond with the seasoned pathologist.

Chief Deputy District Attorneys David Roger and David Wall, apparently sensing that some jurors were taken aback by Shellow, let the Milwaukee attorney have his way with his big witness. There were few objections lodged by prosecutors during his cross-examination.

Shellow and fellow defense attorney Robert Murdock attempted to create confusion and reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors as they bombarded Baden.

They were given one big opening by prosecutors: Baden's disagreement with Chief Medical Examiner Lary Simms over Binion's cause of death.

Simms, who performed the autopsy on Binion, had testified before Baden that he believed the former casino executive died of heroin and Xanax intoxication.

What we saw last week was rare indeed -- the prosecution bringing in someone to contradict its own chief medical examiner. But we should be surprised by nothing in this case.

The theory of Binion's Sept. 17, 1998, death has been changing all along as more information has come to light. Police first thought he had died of a drug overdose. Binion was a heroin abuser, and an empty bottle of Xanax was found by his body.

But as Dillard and police kept digging, a new theory emerged that the levels of heroin and Xanax in Binion's body were so lethal that he was a victim of a forced overdose.

Then came the experienced Baden, who testified that the drugs in Binion's system weren't enough to kill him. Baden found that Simms had overlooked key physical evidence that Binion was smothered to death.

Last week, however, prosecutors drove home the point that both Simms and Baden have concluded Binion was a victim of a homicide.

The prosecution's theory now is that Murphy and Tabish first tried to pump Binion with drugs but were forced to suffocate him when his gardener showed up for work.

The defense, meanwhile, has its own version of Binion's untimely demise. It's gearing up to present evidence that Binion committed suicide by overdosing on drugs.

Who needs distractions outside the courtroom when you have this kind of action inside?