Binion defense divided over mob movie deal

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

A rift within the defense team of convicted killers Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish has spilled over into the public.

Tabish's new lawyer, William Terry, filed a motion late Monday seeking to compel the defendant's previous attorneys, Louis Palazzo and Robert Murdock, and others once associated with the defense team to turn over financial records related to the case.

The motion, sources close to the defense said, is an effort to determine whether members of the defense team had knowledge of a mob movie deal.

Terry has subpoenaed the records of Palazzo and Murdock, as well as those of the law firm headed by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who once represented Murphy, and Trial Consultants of Nevada, a company created by Goodman political aide William Cassidy, who worked for Tabish and Murphy during their murder trial. A subpoena also was issued to defense investigator Michael Wysocki.

"I'm baffled by this," Murdock said this morning. "I think this is just a misunderstanding."

Murdock said he hopes to resolve the matter before a show cause hearing at 9:30 a.m. Friday in front of District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

Goodman's partner, David Chesnoff, who also once represented Murphy, said he encouraged Terry to seek the hearing.

"I wanted to have an appearance in open court in which Ms. Murphy, her attorney and Judge Bonaventure gave us direction as to what we should do," Chesnoff said.

"Our firm has always jealously protected the attorney-client privilege, and we want to be 100 percent sure the client would not waive any of her rights as we would do with any other former client."

According to a two-page order signed by Bonaventure, the records were supposed to have been turned over to Terry last Wednesday.

Terry's motion is considered a prelude to the fireworks expected next week when court papers are filed seeking a new trial on behalf of Tabish in part over the rift within the defense team. Terry has not asked for the financial records of Murphy's lawyer, John Momot, who also plans to file a motion for a new trial for his client next week.

Murphy and Tabish were convicted May 19 of killing wealthy gambling figure Ted Binion on Sept. 17, 1998, and stealing his valuables. The jury that found them guilty recommended a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years on the first degree murder charge.

Terry, who took over Tabish's defense last month, is trying to determine whether anyone who participated in the defense team received fees as a result of a book or movie deal about the murder case. If that can be proven, it would be considered a conflict of interest and a violation of Tabish's Sixth Amendment right to competent counsel and a fair trial.

The Sun reported in November that Tabish had struck a movie deal with Joseph Cusumano, a reputed associate of slain Chicago mob kingpin Anthony Spilotro.

Sources close to the defense said that Cusumano, a convicted felon listed in Nevada's Black Book of "undesirables" banned from casinos, agreed to help Tabish with his legal fees in return for a piece of his film rights.

In December Bonaventure, who later presided over the Binion murder trial, questioned Palazzo and Murdock in his chambers about the reported movie deal and came away persuaded that their legal fee arrangement with Tabish was proper.

Terry also is said to be looking into Cassidy's defense activities, which have the potential to be the most explosive of all of the allegations Terry has been putting together on his defense colleagues.

Sources close to the defense said Terry has questions about Cassidy's "loyalties and motives."

Cassidy, a California private investigator now working as a City Hall aide to Goodman, could not be reached for comment this morning.

The Sun has previously reported that Tabish was concerned Cassidy was running interference within the defense and that it may have hampered Tabish's efforts to avoid a conviction.

Tabish reportedly questioned whether Cassidy was trying to protect Goodman from embarrassment.

At his trial, sources said, Tabish wanted to bring up the issue of Goodman receiving bags of coins from Murphy just days after Binion's death. But Palazzo never called Goodman to the witness stand, and he recommended against Tabish testifying on his own behalf.

Murphy later took back the coins, which prosecutors believe were stolen from Binion after his slaying, and some of them later ended up in the hands of Tabish's brother-in-law, Dennis Rehbein, in Missoula, Mont.

Cassidy, meanwhile, reportedly angered Momot when he and Palazzo went to see Murphy in jail without his permission on May 23, the night before she took the witness stand to profess her love for Binion during the penalty phase of the trial.

Momot instructed jail officials not to allow Cassidy to visit Murphy in the future, and he asked that no other attorneys besides himself and his partner, Bill Tidwell, be allowed to see his client.

Terry, meanwhile, also has filed a motion seeking to compel Palazzo and Murdock to turn over their complete file of the murder trial to him.

Murdock said today that he has given Terry everything his law firm had on the case.

But in his motion, Terry said the 28 boxes of documents turned over do not contain the lengthy trial transcripts, as well as many of the 40,000 pages of discovery prosecutors gave the defense prior to the trial.