Judge makes Tabish felony conviction fair game

Jeff German and Kim Smith

Monday, May 1, 2000 | 11:55 a.m.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure today denied a request to bar prosecutors from referring to Rick Tabish's 1988 felony conviction should he take the witness stand in his own defense in the Ted Binion murder trial.

Tabish, a 35-year-old Montana contractor, and his lover, Sandy Murphy, a 28-year-old onetime topless dancer, are standing trial on charges of killing Binion on Sept. 17, 1998, and stealing his valuables.

Prosecutors contend Murphy and Tabish pumped the wealthy gambling figure with drugs and suffocated him. The trial now is in its sixth week.

Tabish's lawyer, Louis Palazzo, wanted his conviction for cocaine trafficking off limits to prosecutors under cross-examination. But Bonaventure said prosecutors had a right to bring it up if Tabish testifies. Palazzo has refused to say whether Tabish will take the stand.

Bonaventure this morning also denied a defense request to play the entire tape of a police interview with Tabish the day of his Sept. 20, 1998, arrest on charges of stealing Binion's silver fortune in Pahrump.

The interview was conducted in the absence of Tabish's attorney, and prosecutors did not present it as part of their case. But defense attorneys wanted to play it to the jury to contradict Nye County sheriff's deputies who testified earlier about key statements Tabish made at the scene of the silver theft.

The defense today, meanwhile, added another veteran attorney, Thomas Pitaro, to question its medical experts. Pitaro represents, John B. Joseph, a co-defendant in the alleged scheme to torture a Las Vegas businessman two months before Binion's death. Joseph is set to stand trial after the murder case.

Pitaro today questioned Paul Dougherty, a Southern California crime scene expert, on the witness stand as the defense continued its case.

Dougherty was asked to testify about his review of the death scene at Binion's 2408 Palomino Lane home. The defense contends the scene was allowed to be contaminated by police and Binion's estate.

Dougherty described the death scene as "incomplete," saying it was not adequately photographed and key evidence was left behind by police.

On Friday another expert was added to the defense list of witnesses despite the strenuous objections of prosecutors and the displeasure of the judge.

Dr. Paul Nausieda is being called upon to bolster the defense's contention that the 55-year-old Binion died of an intentional overdose of heroin and the prescription sedative Xanax.

Defense attorneys expect to call their chief medical expert, Dr. Cyril Wecht of Pittsburgh, as early as Wednesday to dispute the findings of the prosecution's forensic experts. Wecht is expected to contradict Dr. Michael Baden, a famed New York pathologist who testified last month that Binion died by the 17th century method of suffocation known as "Burkeing." Both Wecht and Baden are friends who have testified in some of this country's biggest murder cases.

On Friday lawyers John Momot and William Tidwell, who represent Murphy, argued to add Nausieda to their witness list because of his unique dual expertise in both neuropharmacology and psychiatry.

Although he isn't sure what Nausieda will say on the stand, Tidwell said he can testify to both the effects of the drugs on the central nervous system and the behaviors of potentially suicidal people.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Wall fought the addition because state law requires expert witnesses be disclosed to the opposing side at least three weeks before trial so they can have time to prepare for cross-examination.

Wall, his voice rising in frustration, told Bonaventure he was tired of the defense playing "hide and seek" with evidence it is required to provide to the state.

Tidwell said the defense only became aware of the doctor's existence two weeks ago.

And Momot said he wasn't trying to "trick or trap" the state.

"This is no hide and seek game," he said. "This is no game. We're playing for a couple of life sentences on behalf of Ms. Murphy."

An angry Bonaventure snapped: "You want it all. If somebody calls you tomorrow (with another name), let's bring them in too."

Bonaventure, however, said he couldn't exclude the doctor's testimony because it doesn't appear as though the defense acted in bad faith.

Should the state need a week or so to prepare for Nausieda's testimony, Bonaventure said he would grant a continuance in the case.

Defense attorneys Friday informed Bonaventure that they may call Murphy's former lawyer, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, this week.

Momot said today Goodman may be asked to testify about his "observations" of his client's demeanor after Binion's death. Nurses at Valley Hospital, where Murphy was taken the evening Binion died, have testified that her hysteria appeared "almost theatrical."

Also on Friday Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger concluded his cross-examination of Murphy's mother, whose name is also Sandy Murphy.

The elder Murphy admitted she did not tell police, a private investigator or Binion's attorney that her daughter removed a box of silver coins from the home the day after Binion died.

Murphy's mother said she didn't know how many coins were in the box, but acknowledged it was more than 50. She also said her daughter didn't go into Binion's safe that day.

Murphy said she was saddened by Binion's death because of how it affected her daughter.

"You weren't sorry for Ted Binion's sake?" Roger said.

"I was for my daughter's sake because she loved him so much," she replied.

Murphy's father, Kenneth Murphy, also took the stand Friday, winking at his daughter while the lawyers conferred with Bonaventure briefly. The younger Murphy smiled back, her eyes welling with tears.

Kenneth Murphy testified that Binion repeatedly called him at work five days before he died. During two of the calls, he said, a nearly incoherent Binion repeated a story that his dogs had been run over and killed and that he needed to speak with his daughter, who was visiting her parents in California.

He later learned the dogs were alive and well, Kenneth Murphy said.