Tabish team seeks documents from Justice Department

Friday, Aug. 2, 2002 | 9:16 a.m.

Lawyers for Rick Tabish have filed suit in federal court against the FBI and the Justice Department to obtain documents they contend will help Tabish overturn his conviction in Ted Binion's 1998 slaying.

San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra filed the suit, which seeks to force the Justice Department to turn over documents supporting a 1999 FBI affidavit that suggested there may have been other suspects in Binion's slaying.

The Justice Department has so far refused to voluntarily turn over any information to the defense.

The affidavit, written by Las Vegas FBI Agent Gerald McIntosh, was secretly submitted to a federal judge on Dec. 13, 1999, to obtain permission to conduct wiretaps on a criminal organization that may have had knowledge of Binion's death.

Tabish and Binion's girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, were convicted in May 2000 of killing Binion, and both now are serving more than 20 years in prison.

The affidavit did not become public until October of last year.

Defense lawyers now are looking to overturn the murder convictions of Tabish and Murphy because of the newly discovered information in the affidavit.

Binion prosecutors, who have accused the defense of being on a fishing expedition, have said the FBI did not provide them with any information gleaned from the wiretaps.