Columnist Jeff German: Lawyer’s request smacks of arrogance

Friday, Dec. 21, 2001 | 4:11 a.m.

IT DIDN'T TAKE long for Alan Dershowitz to seek special treatment from the Nevada Supreme Court.

The justices recently gave the Harvard University law professor permission to argue Sandy Murphy's appeal next year in Carson City.

Dershowitz is being paid big bucks by Murphy's wealthy benefactor, William Fuller, to come to Nevada and shake up the local yokels with the hope of springing the 29-year-old Murphy from prison.

Murphy was convicted in May 2000 with her lover, Montana contractor Rick Tabish, of killing colorful gaming figure Ted Binion at his posh Las Vegas home on Sept. 17, 1998. She's serving a minimum of 22 years behind bars.

This month the high-powered Dershowitz, through one of his surrogates, informed the Supreme Court that his busy schedule might result in conflicts with the still-undetermined date for oral arguments.

Victoria Eiger, a New York lawyer helping Dershowitz with Murphy's appeal, said the East Coast legal scholar only will be available on certain days, primarily Mondays, because of teaching obligations at Harvard.

"During February and March of 2002, Mr. Dershowitz has teaching responsibilities on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Eiger told the high court in a three-page motion. "We would therefore request that if the case is scheduled for argument in February or March, that it is scheduled for a Monday."

In other words, the justices should forget about their own busy schedules and give Dershowitz what he wants because he's, well, Dershowitz.

The revered professor, who has made a career out of defending celebrities in high-profile cases and commenting on the legal issues of the day, apparently is used to getting the red carpet treatment.

If he had his way, he'd probably want the Supreme Court to book his flight from Boston for the oral arguments. And maybe his hotel room.

Maybe the justices should send a limousine to pick up Dershowitz at the airport, too.

Is there a law clerk in the house who could carry his briefcase to court? Do you like cream and sugar in your coffee, Mr. Dershowitz, sir?

In reality most lawyers who practice in this state know the overworked justices rarely go out of their way to accommodate anyone in the Nevada bar when appeals come before them. Most lawyers are happy just to get a hearing before the panel members. They'll take any day of the week, any time of the day, to be heard.

So pardon the smirks over the apparent arrogance of the professor's request.

Asking the Supreme Court for a favor before even speaking a word in the case isn't going to ingratiate Dershowitz with the esteemed panel deciding Murphy's fate.

And that's no laughing matter for Murphy, her seasoned legal point man in Las Vegas, Herb Sachs, and her money man, Fuller, who observers say can't stop pouring cash into her defense.

Some have suggested Murphy made a tactical error when she fired the respected Tom Pitaro as her lead appeal lawyer last year. Pitaro, who has one of the top legal minds in the state, knows how to handle Nevada's justices as well as anyone.

And he's probably just as brilliant as Dershowitz -- or at least smart enough not to ask for special treatment in a case watched so closely by the media.

Whether the Supreme Court will hold arguments on a Monday to accomodate Dershowitz remains to be seen.

Whatever it does, the panel isn't likely to wind up drooling over the celebrity professor in the long run, no matter how many times he appears on CNN or Court TV.

He'll learn quickly that Nevadans, even Supreme Court justices, are independent and don't like to be told by outsiders how to conduct their business.

Dershowitz may carry clout on the East Coast to rearrange schedules, but Nevadans wake up every morning to West Coast time.