Sun reporter taken off Binion witness list

Kim Smith

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 11:33 a.m.

Las Vegas Sun columnist and senior investigative reporter Jeff German has been stricken from the list of potential defense witnesses in the Ted Binion murder trial.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure removed German from the list this morning after hearing arguments from Sun attorney Dominic Gentile and attorneys John Momot and Louis Palazzo, who represent defendants Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish.

Momot told Bonaventure that he would like German available to testify in the event that certain witnesses offer information on the stand that is different than that reported by German.

German has written more than 250 columns and articles about the circumstances surrounding the November 1998 death of Binion.

Gentile filed a motion to quash a subpoena for German and to get him off the witness list, stating that German is protected by Nevada's Shield Law.

That law "protects journalists from being compelled to disclose both confidential and non-confidential information, whether or not published, when gathered in their professional capacity..."

Bonaventure agreed, but said he would be willing to reconsider it should witnesses offer testimony that contradicts what German has reported.