High marks are given to prosecutors, defense

Kim Smith

Monday, May 15, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

If Mace Yampolsky had been representing Rick Tabish, he wouldn't have asked the judge if he could hit Tabish with the phone book. He would have gone ahead and done it.

"It's a lot easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission," Yampolsky said. "If he really wanted to hit his client, he should've just done it. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and if he had hit him once and been stopped and if there had been immediate swelling, then that would've painted quite a picture for the jury."

Yampolsky was one of a handful of Las Vegas defense attorneys who were asked Friday to evaluate the jobs done by the principals in the Ted Binion murder case.

By and large, Yampolsky and others who were randomly polled gave both sides high marks. Any criticisms they might have made, they admit, might not be fair because they have the benefit of hindsight.

Whether it was prosecutor David Rogers' methodical closing argument, Sandy Murphy's defense attorney John Momot's turn of phrase, Rick Tabish's defense attorney Louis Palazzo's fire or co-prosecutor David Wall's summation, everyone got high marks.

"In contrast with the other high profile cases we've seen, everyone acted professionally," Peter Christiansen, a defense attorney, said. "Everyone did their jobs and did them well. Unless you've done it, no one really understands just how hard these people worked, the hours they put in and how diligent they were."

The attorneys for both sides were articulate and intelligent and that is what makes a good trial, defense attorney Paul Wommer said.

"It's not clear cut either way," Wommer said. "This trial let them use their skills to their utmost level, and they did. No one knows what the verdict will be, and that's because both sides did their job well."

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure deserves much of the credit for the smoothness of the trial, Wommer said.

"This trial was conducted in the manner it should have been conducted, and the O.J. Simpson case was the antithesis of that," Wommer said. "It was a somewhat complex, convoluted and high-profile trial, and Judge Bonaventure ran it the way it should've been run."

Tony Sgro, another defense attorney, said Bonaventure was fair, but he made sure everyone knew he "wasn't going to take grief from anyone."

"Everyone involved was of the caliber of what it takes to put on a case like this one," Sgro said.

The fact that jurors were given 80 instructions when they went in to deliberate instead of the usual 30 to 40 proves just how diligent everyone was, Sgro said.

"That case has been gone through very thoroughly, and they left no stone unturned," he said.

No stones were left unturned during the prosecution's closing arguments either, all of those polled agreed.

"I don't think they could've done anything better than what they did," Sgro said. "They dealt with such a large volume of witnesses over a long period of time and yet they were able to effectively communicate their ideas to the jury."

Several attorneys commented on Wall's presence during the state's final chance before the jury.

"He contained this burning madness, you could tell he was fired up, outraged," defense attorney Gregory Denue said.

Denue also loved Wall's comment that Murphy no longer cared about Ted Binion the man, but she cared about Ted Binion "the human ATM machine."

"If you can conjure up that image for the jury, that's great," Denue said. "I think he was trying to go for the knockout blow, and he just may have done it."

Wall wasn't the only one coming up with images, though. Yampolsky said Momot's "Binion money machine" was a stroke of genius. No one will likely forget his comment about the only conspiracy in the case being the one that existed between Binion and heroin, either.

"A jury isn't going to remember much, but if you can find a slogan and stick to it, that's great," Yampolsky said.

Studies show that 70 percent to 80 percent of jurors lean one way or the other after opening statements and then try to fit what they hear into their original stance, Yampolsky said. If an attorney is able to adopt a catchy phrase, all the better.

Palazzo's passion isn't likely to go unnoticed either, Denue said.

"He was extremely well-prepared. He knew that case inside and out, and Rick Tabish was lucky to have him as an attorney," Denue said. "Tabish wasn't the most sympathetic person in the world, and when your life is on the line, you want a fighter and that's what he got."

Christiansen summed it up by saying that if Murphy and Tabish are acquitted, "it's because their lawyers did a hell of a job."

Kim Smith covers courts for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2321 or by e-mail at kimberly@lasvegassun.com.