Attorney: Rudin transcript shows judge in worse light

Kim Smith

Friday, July 27, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

The author of Margaret Rudin's motion for a new trial says District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's release Thursday of a previously sealed court proceeding puts the judge in an even more negative light.

"From the defense perspective, the record in this case is far worse than we originally contemplated," Deputy Public Defender Craig Creel said Thursday.

Last week Creel filed a motion asking Bonaventure to grant Rudin a new trial.

Among other things, Creel suggests Bonaventure engaged in misconduct by meeting with Rudin in private. In response, Bonaventure released a transcript of that meeting and of subsequent meetings with the attorneys in the case.

Rudin, 57, was convicted of first-degree murder May 1 in the December 1994 death of her millionaire husband, Ronald Rudin.

Bonaventure is scheduled to hear arguments on the motion for a new trial Aug. 24. If he doesn't grant the motion, he will sentence Rudin the following week. She faces a possible life sentence.

Creel, acting on behalf of Rudin's new attorneys, Jordan Savage and Curtis Brown, alleges that Bonaventure engaged in multiple acts of misconduct and her former attorney, Michael Amador, was unprepared for trial.

Creel said that not only did Bonaventure err when he refused to grant a motion for a mistrial early on in the case, he met with Rudin and a juror without attorneys from both sides being present.

Such "ex parte" communications are prohibited under Nevada Supreme Court rules.

According to the transcript released Thursday, Bonaventure met with Rudin on March 5, when he learned that she had grave concerns about her attorney Michael Amador's opening statement the Friday before and about his preparedness in general.

Creel suggested in his motion that Bonaventure pressured Rudin into moving forward with the trial by telling her she would be represented by the public defender's office during her next trial if a mistrial was declared or if the trial was postponed.

"Apparently certain negative comments were made concerning the attorneys at the Public Defender's Office who had originally handled the case," Creel motion reads.

Nowhere in the transcript released Thursday does Bonaventure remark upon the quality of the public defender's office.

Creel insisted Thursday that ex parte communications are not to be tolerated.

"We have a scenario where a judge in a first-degree murder case, without counsel present and without parameters being set on what can be and can't be discussed, discussing conversations the defendant has had with her attorneys and vice versa.

"Worse yet, all we're aware of (from the transcripts) is what was 'on the record, ' " Creel said Thursday.

The transcript Bonaventure released actually reveals two more ex parte conversations, Creel said.

Bonaventure carried on a Sunday telephone conversation with defense attorney Thomas Pitaro about Rudin's displeasure with Amador and the next day he met with Rudin and her defense attorneys without the prosecutors.

"Even the prosecutors appear to be very concerned this happened and yet none of the attorneys appear to make any attempts to stop this from happening," Creel said.

The transcripts reveal that Bonaventure felt he had three options on March 5. He told Rudin he could declare a mistrial and give the case to the public defender's office, he could give Pitaro more of a lead role or he could do nothing and move forward.

Rudin told Bonaventure she wanted Pitaro to take a more active role in the case. She also said she didn't want Amador's feelings to be hurt by openly stating Pitaro was her new "lead" attorney.

After reaching that understanding, Bonaventure brought in the defense attorneys to discuss the situation. He then asked the prosecutors to be brought in.

The transcripts also reveal the judge's displeasure with Amador -- something that became more and more evident as the trial went on and something Creel believes the jury picked up on and punished Rudin for.

Bonaventure said he was upset that Amador's opening statement seemed to be more about him than Rudin.

"I really held my temper," Bonaventure said. "I was gritting my teeth. This is about Margaret Rudin and Margaret Rudin getting a fair trial.

"It's...I'm sick and tired of hearing about you. About you're a former DA, you know (Detective) Jimmy Vaccaro, you were sworn in with (prosecutor) Chris Owens. I don't give a damn about you, as such. I care about the integrity of this trial. And I care about Margaret Rudin getting a fair trial."

archive