Guilty verdict not end of Rudin murder case

Kim Smith

Thursday, May 3, 2001 | 11:05 a.m.

Margaret Rudin was convicted Wednesday of murdering her husband, but her case -- and the fallout from it -- is far from over.

The case, because of the first-degree murder verdict, automatically will be appealed. A defense attorney vowed to file a misconduct complaint against the judge. And strained relationships between District Judge Joseph Bonaventure and other attorneys will need mending, observers say.

After deliberating nearly 30 hours over five days, jurors convicted the former socialite of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and of wiretapping.

Bonaventure is to announce June 8 if Rudin should receive a no-parole life sentence in connection with the December 1994 death of her husband or if she should become eligible for parole after 20 years.

He must also decide whether to run the wiretapping sentence of one to six years at the same time as the life sentence or consecutively.

The trial, which ended exactly two months after opening statements, was marred by barbs and shouting matches between Bonaventure and attorneys.

Bonaventure referred to the nastiness at the trial in a statement he read at the end of Wednesday's proceedings.

In an apparent reference to defense attorney Thomas Pitaro, Bonaventure noted that a "relationship with a close and treasured friend of many years" had been strained by the trial.

It was what he said at the end, however, that raised the eyebrows of many.

Bonaventure thanked prosecutors Gary Guymon and Chris Owens and defense attorneys Pitaro and John Momot for their work and said he understood their zealousness.

However, the judge made no mention of Michael Amador -- the defense attorney whom he had threatened to sanction. He refused to talk to Amador at the end of the trial.

"As to perceived problems with counsel, I find that well-timed silence has more eloquence than speech, and this court will not comment further at this point in time," Bonaventure said Wednesday.

"However, I do think it is appropriate to end this case with the words of Frank Outlaw: 'Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They become actions. Watch your actions. They become habits. Watch your habits. They become character. Watch your character. It becomes your destiny.' "

Amador shrugged off the comments and said he plans to file a complaint with the state Judicial Discipline Commission against the judge.

"I don't have much respect for Judge Bonaventure. Nor do I have much respect for his opinion," Amador said. "He's the one who owes us an apology for his behavior."

Amador insists Bonaventure's attitude toward the defense team aided the jurors in reaching their verdict.

"I wasn't shocked. I was angry," Amador said about the verdict. "It was an injustice. It's an injustice when bullies win, when the system doesn't work, when lies are offered by the government as the truth, when bribes are offered as rewards, when witnesses are buried by prosecutors and when their excuses are given credence."

Amador even took a swipe at his fellow defense team members, Momot and Pitaro.

"I would've put on a whole different defense instead of the Reader's Digest version that my co-counsel did when they were pressured to end the trial by the judge," Amador said.

The prosecutors succeeded in convincing jurors that Rudin, 56, killed her husband, Ronald Rudin, in 1994 to inherit her share of his $11 million estate.

Rudin's decapitated and charred remains were found near Lake Mohave in January 1995.

The defense attorneys attempted to convince jurors that the physical evidence disproved the state's theory, and they suggested Ronald Rudin's business associates were behind the murder.

The trial had been expected to take four to six weeks, and according to court officials, it cost taxpayers $3,849 per day for a total of $142,399. That figure does not include the salaries of the district attorneys, Bonaventure or Pitaro -- the only attorney appointed to the case at taxpayer expense.

Pitaro has yet to submit his bill, and the other salaries would be paid regardless of whether they were in trial or not, Court Administrator Chuck Short said.

Included in the expenses are jurors' pay, overtime for court staff, meals, some defense expenses and court reporting costs, Short said.

In comparison, the trial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, who were convicted of killing gaming figure Ted Binion, cost taxpayers $3,179 per day, Short said. That trial lasted five days longer than the Rudin trial and cost $133,538.

The trial of Jessica Williams, who was recently convicted in connection with an accident that killed six teens, cost taxpayers $11,667 per day, Short said.

That trial was more costly because the jurors were sequestered for most of the 13-day trial, Short said. The total cost of the trial was $151,677.