Tabish lawyer wants judge off case

Monday, April 8, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

A lawyer for one of Ted Binion's convicted killers has filed court papers asking District Judge Joseph Bonaventure to disqualify himself from further post-trial matters in the high-profile murder case.

San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra, who represents Rick Tabish, alleged that Bonaventure showed bias toward his client when he signed books at a book-signing at Binion's Horseshoe last August for "Murder in Sin City," written by Sun reporter Jeff German.

Bonaventure should be disqualified for signing his name to a "perceived biased and inflammatory book," Serra alleged.

Serra, recently hired by Tabish, said "Murder in Sin City," published by Avon Books in New York, is a "one-sided recounting" of the events leading to Binion's death and the subsequent murder convictions of Tabish and his co-defendant, Sandy Murphy, Binion's former girlfriend.

Murphy and Tabish were convicted in May 2000 of pumping the former Horseshoe executive with drugs and suffocating him at his home on Sept. 17, 1998. Both are serving more than 20 years in prison and are appealing their convictions to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Serra said that he plans to file additional post-trial motions soon, including one seeking to dismiss the case because of alleged prosecutorial misconduct, and Bonaventure should not be allowed to hear the motions. He has asked for an April 25 hearing.

Bonaventure plans to ask Chief Judge Mark Gibbons to decide who should hear the motion. Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, the lead prosecutor in the case, said he will oppose Serra's motion.

"These allegations are laughable," said Roger, who now is running for district attorney. "Judge Bonaventure was the greatest example of a fair and impartial jurist during the trial."

Roger said that, if anything, Tabish and Murphy had an advantage during the trial. Murphy's lawyer, John Momot, is a longtime friend of Bonaventure, and the judge's wife is the godmother of Momot's daughter.

Among those who also attended the book signing, which took place long after Murphy and Tabish were convicted, were Bonaventure's law clerk Al Lasso, Roger and co-prosecutor David Wall. Horseshoe owner Becky Behnen, Binion's sister, also was on hand.