Judge wades through deluge of motions in Binion case

Robert Macy

Monday, Feb. 28, 2000 | 3:45 a.m.

A judge waded through dozens of motions in the Ted Binion murder case Monday, denying defense calls for a change of venue and freeing defendant Sandra Murphy of some of the charges against her.

Murphy and co-defendant Rick Tabish still face murder charges in the Sept. 17, 1998 death of Binion, a member of a famous casino family. Judge Joseph Bonaventure dismissed charges of conspiracy to commit extortion and kidnapping against Murphy, saying there was no proof she knew of efforts to extort and kidnap a witness in the case.

Bonaventure waded through a stack of 42 motions and warned half a dozen attorneys that the process would be a lenghty one. He pointed to a sign on his bench reading "The Truth Takes Few Words" and told the lawyers, "I think we're going to have to get rid of the sign."

David Wall, Clark County deputy district attorney, argued against the change of venue motion.

"You can't generate publicity yourself, and then complain there's too much publicity," Wall argued.

Murphy's attorney, John Momot, complained weeks ago about the local and national publicity the case is generating. At the same time, he hired publicist Mark Fierro to assist in handling interview requests for his client.

The judge said there was no testimony in last year's prelimary hearing linking Murphy to efforts to extort and kidnap witness Leo Casey in efforts to get Casey to turn over his interest in a Jean, Nev. sandpit.

Murphy and Tabish, reputed lovers, are still scheduled to stand trial March 13 on charges of killing Binion and conspiring to steal some 22 1/2 tons of his silver from a vault in Pahrump, Nev.

David Mattsen and Michael Milot face trial on charges of burglary and grand larceny in the attempted theft of the silver, valued at $4 million to $6 million.

Tabish, Steven Wadkins and John Joseph face charges of extortion, kidnapping and assault in the Casey incident. They face trial at a later date on those charges.

Defense attorney Stan Hunterton urged Bonaventure to require prosecutor David Roger to outline other problems facing Casey, including possible fraud litigation and Internal Revenue Service issues.

Roger, Clark County deputy district attorney, said Hunterton wanted the state to go on "a fishing expedition" to dig up dirt about one of its witnesses.

Roger said there are some 40,000 pages of discovery in the case, including information on Casey.