Mayor won’t be defending Murphy

Erin Neff

Friday, March 10, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

The offer wasn't too good to refuse.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman confirmed Thursday he was offered a spot on Sandy Murphy's defense team in her first-degree murder trial.

Goodman said he declined -- not because of the money involved -- but due to his promise not to practice law from City Hall.

"It's a fascinating case, and I would love to be on it," Goodman said. "But I'm one of those guys whose word is his bond."

When he was campaigning for mayor last spring, Goodman said that if elected, he would not take on any new clients and would keep his law practice on the back burner throughout his term.

Goodman would not discuss the offer to represent Murphy. She faces trial, along with co-defendant Rick Tabish, for the slaying of former casino executive Ted Binion in September 1998.

A source familiar with the offer, however, said Murphy's benefactor, William Fuller, came to Goodman's law offices Feb. 26 to offer him a role on the defense team.

"I did (get an offer)," Goodman said. "But it was rejected summarily by myself."

The source said Goodman immediately rejected an offer of $1 million, at which time Fuller doubled his offer to $2 million.

"I said when I was running for mayor that I would not take on any new clients," Goodman said.

Fuller, president of Eldorado Mining Inc., which has operations in Southern Nevada, surfaced last year as Murphy's benefactor when he put up her $300,000 bail.

He said in court at the time that he met Murphy at a local restaurant and dined with her several times. Fuller said he considered her a nice person and wanted to help her. He has citizenship in both the United States and Ireland.

Goodman, a 35-year criminal defense attorney, was actually one of Murphy's lawyers when she was initially charged. He turned the case over to his law partner, David Chesnoff, when he was mulling a bid for mayor.

Fuller also loaned Murphy $125,000 to pay legal fees she owed Goodman for his work on the case.

John Momot now represents Murphy. The case is scheduled to go to trail March 27.

Although Goodman is staying put at City Hall, his chief aide is not.

Private investigator Bill Cassidy, who serves as one of Goodman's staff members, has taken a 30-day unpaid leave of absence from his job to work for Murphy's defense team.

Goodman said his office has a temporary employee to answer phones and do other clerical work while Cassidy is on leave. Cassidy is viewed by many as Goodman's closest ally in City Hall and something akin to a chief of staff.

Erin Neff covers Las Vegas government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4062 or 229-6436, or by e-mail at erin@lasvegassun.com