Friday, Aug. 4, 2000 | 11:21 a.m.
A dissident juror who has leveled allegations of misconduct against her fellow panel members in the Binion murder trial faces some tough questions about her own actions in the well-publicized case.
Prosecutors filed court papers Thursday saying the juror, Joan Sanders, claimed during the trial that she knew people who may have worked at the Horseshoe Club.
Chief Deputy District Attorneys David Roger and David Wall said they learned of the claim while interviewing the other jurors about the misconduct allegations raised by Sanders, who was identified as Juror No. 10 during the trial.
The allegations were contained in motions last week for a new trial filed by lawyers for Binion's girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, and her lover, Rick Tabish, who were convicted May 19 of killing Binion in September 1998.
When asked if she knew anyone from the Horseshoe Club on her questionaire prior to the trial, Sanders responded that she didn't, the prosecutors wrote.
Roger and Wall said they were ethically obligated to disclose the information to District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, who presided over the murder trial.
"A juror's intentional concealment of a material fact concerning the juror's qualification to be a fair and impartial juror may require the granting of a new trial," the prosecutors said.
But Roger and Wall said they didn't believe Sanders intentionally withheld the Horseshoe information.
"Juror No. 10 should be brought before the court to explain the discrepancy between her statements to jurors and her answer provided in the jury questionaire," the prosecutors wrote. "The state believes the evidence will establish that the juror's response was an inadvertent mistake."
Roger and Wall, however, acknowledged, that they can't say for sure whether it was an oversight because Sanders refused to return their phone calls.
They said a review of her questionaire showed she did not spend a lot of time contemplating her answers and that it was obvious she did not want to be selected as a juror.
At the end of the questionaire, the prosecutors said, Sanders wrote that jury duty would be a financial hardship on her.
This morning, Horseshoe Club owner Becky Behnen, who is Binion's sister, told the Sun that she has no knowledge of any ties between Sanders and any of her workers.
"None of my employees told me they knew any of the jurors," Behnen said. "It couldn't be a very close relationship if there was one."
In their response to the defense motions for a new trial, the prosecutors submitted affidavits from 10 of the 12 jurors, who rebutted claims by Sanders of improper conduct by her colleagues while deliberating the fate of Murphy and Tabish.
"The jury followed the court's instructions to the letter of the law," Roger and Wall said.
Sanders had alleged that her fellow jurors relied upon documents not placed in evidence, had unauthorized contact with a court bailiff and ignored Bonaventure's admonition to avoid media reports.
All of those charges were denied by the 10 jurors, as well as the bailiff, Henry Pyla.
Two jurors, foreman Arthur Spear Jr. and Chris Sowell, said Sanders told them during the trial that she had relatives who may have worked for the Binions.
"I recall her indicating that that fact made her believe in the existence of the 'Binion Money Machine' as described by defense attorneys throughout the trial," Sowell said in his affidavit.
Added Spear: "I recall Juror No. 10 indicating to me once during the trial that she had relatives who had previously worked for the Binion family and had received certain items from the Binion family. The issue was never discussed during deliberations."
Spear said Sanders was the "last of the jurors to communicate her opinion of guilt or innocence of the two defendants on the various charges."
Another juror, Elmer Glazener, denied in his affidavit a claim by Sanders that he used a Palm Pilot, or hand-held computer, that had access to media reports over the Internet during the trial.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, defended the actions of Tabish's former lawyer, Louis Palazzo.
Tabish's new attorney, William Terry, has alleged that Tabish deserves a new trial because Palazzo put together an ineffective defense.
"Mr. Palazzo presented a very credible defense," the prosecutors wrote. "Indeed, because of Mr. Palazzo's valiant effort, it took the jury six days to reach their verdicts."
archive
