Writs filed in Binion case

Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

Defense lawyers for Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish attacked on Monday the evidence prosecutors have gathered in the Ted Binion murder case.

Writs were filed in District Court seeking to dismiss murder and other charges against the two defendants in the 55-year-old Binion's September 1998 slaying.

"The state's case with regard to Ms. Murphy is long on motive and short on facts," wrote John Momot, who represents Murphy, in his 67-page writ. "There is no evidence that anyone forced or tricked Mr. Binion into ingesting the drugs he alone obtained to satisfy his own cravings and/or addiction."

Louis Palazzo and Robert Murdock, who represent Tabish, wrote: "Without question, the state has failed to even demonstrate with competent evidence that Mr. Tabish was at the scene of the alleged crime on Sept. 17, 1998."

Murphy, the gambling figure's 27-year-old girlfriend, and Tabish, a 34-year-old Montana contractor reported to be Murphy's lover, face 11 criminal charges stemming from Binion's death and the theft of his valuables, including his silver fortune buried in a Pahrump vault.

They are set to stand trial March 13 in the courtroom of District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

Attorneys for three of the four other defendants charged with crimes related to Binion's murder also filed writs Monday seeking dismissals.

One lawyer, Thomas Pitaro, who represents Steven Wadkins, quoted Shakespeare and likened the prosecution's case to "Alice in Wonderland."

Wadkins and John Joseph, a former Southern California banker, are charged with Tabish and Murphy in a scheme to torture businessman Leo Casey into turning over his interests in a Jean sand pit two months before Binion's death. Prosecutors alleged Tabish needed access to Binion's wealth to keep the sand pit open.

Pitaro and Joseph's lawyer, Stan Hunterton, attacked Casey's credibility as a witness, calling him a "perjurer, thief and federal tax felon" who was a "consummate fraud to the end."

"The sad fact is that Leo Casey was able to get away with stealing, as best that can be determined at this time, with over $500,000, and the state wants to put the victims of his crimes in prison for life and let him go free," Pitaro wrote. "We now know what Shakespeare meant when he said: 'Oh justice! Thou art fled to brutish beasts and men have lost their reason.' "

Later in his 22-page writ, Pitaro added: "Neither Wadkins nor Joseph knew they would be caught up in the topsy-turvy 'Alice-in-Wonderland' world of the Binion case, where victims of crimes are prosecuted and criminals go free."

Tony Sgro, who represents Tabish employee Michael Milot, filed court papers arguing the prosecution failed to present evidence linking Milot to the theft of $4 million to $5 million in silver from Binion in Pahrump less than 36 hours after his death.

Milot went to sleep in the back of his truck while Nye County sheriff's deputies contemplated arresting him, Tabish and David Mattsen, a former Binion ranch manager in Pahrump, Sgro wrote.

"The statement defendant Milot made regarding his request to go to sleep is indicative of the fact that he was unconcerned with the law enforcement interaction that was taking place," Sgro said.

Mattsen's lawyer, James "Bucky" Buchanan, did not file a writ on Monday. Buchanan previously his filed a motion seeking to suppress all of the evidence that prosecutors have gathered against his client, who also is facing federal gun charges.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, the lead prosecutor in the case, has until Feb. 11 to respond in writing to the defense claims. Bonaventure has set a Feb. 18 hearing to argue the writs in court.

Prosecutors contend Murphy and Tabish pumped drugs into Binion and then suffocated him. His body was discovered on the floor of his 2408 Palomino Lane home next to an empty bottle of the prescription sedative Xanax.

Momot said in his court papers that the record is clear that Binion, not Murphy, obtained the Xanax and 12 balloons of tar heroin the day before he died.

"No one saw Ms. Murphy force Mr. Binion to ingest these drugs," Momot wrote. "No one saw Ms. Murphy trick Mr. Binion into ingesting these drugs. No one testified that Ms. Murphy confessed to forcing or tricking Mr. Binion into ingesting these drugs. Where is the state's evidence of murder?"

Momot also attacked what he called the state's "inconsistent theories" of death.

The suffocation theory didn't surface until well-known New York pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden, testified during last August's preliminary hearing before Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti.

Before Baden took the witness stand, Dr. Lary Simms, the local chief medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Binion's body, testified that he believed Binion died of a forced drug overdose.

"Certainly, the accepted notions of due process prevent the state from vacillating in its theories of death during trial," Momot wrote. "Either Mr. Binion overdosed, or he suffocated. The state should pick one theory of death and stick with it."

Palazzo and Murdock said in their writ that the prosecution failed to demonstrate sufficient probable cause that Tabish killed Binion.