Mistrial request considered: Attorneys, defendant huddle with judge

Kim Smith

Thursday, March 15, 2001 | 11:21 a.m.

A mistrial in the Margaret Rudin trial appeared possible this morning.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure and the attorneys in the trial met for more than an hour in chambers without Rudin. The judge then took Rudin into chambers and was meeting with her and defense attorneys at 10 a.m.

More than one source close to the case confirmed that Rudin broke down on the way back to jail Wednesday, upset with her lawyer, Michael Amador, and begged for a mistrial.

Prosecutors allege Rudin shot and decapitated her husband Ronald Rudin on Dec. 18, 1994, and burned his remains at Lake Mohave.

Wednesday was the eighth day of the trial.

They say she was after his $8 million to $11 million estate and was upset over an affair he had with an IRS agent.

Rudin has a history of hiring and firing attorneys, going back to her several divorces and a civil trial against her husband's estate in 1996. According to testimony, during her battle with the estate, she fired three attorneys within two weeks period.

Rudin also fired two public defenders so she could hire Amador, who agreed to take the case at no charge. He was joined last month by veteran defense attorney Tom Pitaro, who is being paid by the state.

Other sources close to the case have speculated that Bonaventure appointed Pitaro out of fear that Rudin would file an appeal based on ineffectiveness of counsel. The judge also appointed two private detectives last month to assist in the case -- Thomas Dillard and Michael Wysocki, both of whom were involved in the Ted Binion murder case.

It's unclear how Rudin feels about Pitaro, but courthouse observers speculate he may stay on the case.

Amador's theory of the case and his style have been the talk of the courthouse since before the trial began March 2, and Bonaventure has repeatedly chastised the former prosecutor for filing frivolous and late motions.

Bonaventure has also griped constantly about the slow pace of the trial. The judge has asked Amador repeatedly about the relevance of certain questions.

In addition, the judge strongly reprimanded Amador four days before jury selection began for questioning the integrity of Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Guymon and demanding his resignation.

The trial began with a three-hour statement by Amador that was part argument, part personal history and punctuated with rhetorical questions.

Rudin's sister had been scheduled to resume testimony this morning for what was expected to be a lengthy cross-examination by Amador.

Dona Robinson spent three hours Wednesday answering Guymon's questions

Amador contends that Ronald Rudin's trustees had him killed. He said they then took Rudin to court to get her removed from the will so they could split her share.

Margaret Rudin received $500,000 cash and some insurance money midway through a civil trial in January 1996 as part of a settlement. The rest of the estate was divided among the two trustees and another beneficiary.

Amador asked Bonaventure for permission Wednesday to get into Robinson's use of anti-depressants during his cross-examination.

The defense attorney said he believes she has used them for several years, thus signaling a long-term psychiatric problem that may influence her perception and ability to relate incidents.

Amador said Robinson and Rudin have rarely gotten along and went several years without talking. He alleged Robinson is prone to violent outbursts and was once was arrested for attacking Margaret. Some of the alleged incidents happened more than 20 years ago.

Guymon objected to the admissibility of Robinson's drug use, saying that only the years around Ronald Rudin's death are relevant. Anything more than that would be "character assassination," he said.

After the jury was sent home for the day, Bonaventure complained that the trial was turning into "The Jerry Springer Show," which he has said rots people's brains.

Robinson testified Wednesday that her sister complained a great deal about her marriage in the last half of 1994. Although she had said she was going to divorce her husband, Rudin told her she had changed her mind, Robinson said.

"She said, 'He's not in good health. He can't even walk without being out of breath. I think I'll wait,' " Robinson said.

After Ronald Rudin disappeared, Robinson said she saw her sister wipe her fingerprints off electronic-listening devices, which had been placed in his real estate office by his wife.

Robinson, 49, is eight years younger than Rudin. She said she also helped her sister remove several financial documents from the real-estate office and Rudin's antique store after Ronald Rudin disappeared.

Her sister told her to tell the police that she was getting along "better than ever" with her husband, Robinson said. Margaret also told her to say that Ronald had given her $30,000 to remodel the space for the antique store and had agreed to stop seeing his lover.

Later, before she was to testify before a grand jury, Robinson said her sister handed her a stack of papers with portions highlighted. She also offered to hire her an attorney, Robinson said.

Robinson also reported seeing pieces of carpeting and padding at another sister's house and recognizing it as being Ronald Rudin's bedroom carpeting.

It had a stain the size of a dinner plate on it, Robinson said.

"I thought it might be spaghetti sauce, wine or blood, but I didn't know," Robinson said. "It smelled strongly of a cleaning solution."

Robinson also said that in the months before Ronald Rudin's disappearance, her sister spoke frequently about Yehuda Sharon, the man police think helped Rudin murder her husband or dispose of his body.

"She spoke about how much she enjoys being with him, how wonderful he makes her feel, how pretty he makes her feel, how smart he is," Robinson said.

Sharon was granted immunity by prosecutors in 1995 and is expected to testify at the trial.