Defense buries move to exhume Binion

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000 | 11:23 a.m.

Defense lawyers for Richard Tabish today formally withdrew their motion to exhume Ted Binion's body.

This came as Sandy Murphy's attorney, John Momot, asked District Judge Joseph Bonaventure at a hearing this morning for a 90-day delay in the March 13 trial for the two people charged with killing the gambling figure.

"It's just a massive amount of work," said Momot, who previously has indicated he intended to work full time on the high-profile case that has generated more than 27,000 pages of documents.

The motion was supported by Tabish's attorneys, Louis Palazzo and Robert Murdock, but opposed by Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, the lead prosecutor.

Bonaventure denied the motion, but gave the attorneys more time to file motions to challenge the murder case.

"The court is real adamant about this," Bonaventure said. "I thought I was very fair from the beginning."

Palazzo, meanwhile, told Bonaventure that his forensics expert said it would be a "futile exercise" to re-examine Binion's body because it has been cleaned and embalmed.

In the wake of public criticism, Palazzo informed Bonaventure late last week that his pathologist concluded obtaining new evidence would be difficult.

This week when told that Palazzo and Murdock had retreated from their push to exhume, Binion's sister, Horseshoe Club President Becky Behnen, told the Sun: "I'm glad they didn't feel it was necessary ... This gives me peace."

Added attorney Harry Claiborne, who represents Binion's daughter and chief heir: "It was no surprise to me. I fully expected them to drop it, and I'm glad they did."

Both Claiborne and Bonaventure were critical of Palazzo and Murdock at a hearing last week for bringing the motion just before Christmas without supporting evidence.

Claiborne said the motion created a "pall" over the Binion family during the holiday season and never should have been filed.

Even Murphy was reported to be unhappy that her co-defendant was pushing to re-examine Binion's body, which is sealed in an airtight crypt at a local mausoleum.

Momot said late in the week that he wouldn't support the motion unless it was possible to discover new evidence.

Defense lawyers following the Binion case had suggested the move to exhume had potential to become a major legal blunder for Palazzo and Murdock.

It was theorized that any re-examination would help the prosecution more than the defense.

Palazzo, meanwhile, told Bonaventure today that he was concerned that Tabish, for no apparent reason, lost his "trusty" privileges at the Clark County Detention Center last month and was placed in protective custody.

Tabish, Palazzo added, was placed in "the hole," further inhibiting his privileges as of Monday night.

Bonaventure said he also was concerned about the apparent disciplinary action taken against Tabish and intended to resolve the situation.

He said he didn't want Tabish's defense efforts to be harmed by the action.