Murphy loses chance at bail

Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2002 | 9:19 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Sandy Murphy, convicted of killing Las Vegas gaming figure Ted Binion, will stay in prison until the Nevada Supreme Court decides her appeal.

The Supreme Court has denied a motion to release Murphy on bail while it considers her appeal.

The court heard oral arguments June 27 and has yet to rule whether to grant her a new trial. In the meantime, she has served two years of a sentence of 22 years to life.

The court said Monday that it agreed with District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, who denied her bail during her appeal.

The court said Bonaventure denied bail "because it found Murphy's release on bail would pose an unacceptable risk of flight."

"In so finding, the District Court specifically referenced the magnitude of a conviction and sentence as well as Murphy's 'cavalier attitude' and past disregard of the court's order while on house arrest."

The court said it deemed these reasons sufficient to uphold Bonaventure's ruling.

Murphy's attorney, Herbert Sachs, petitioned the court to grant bail because she "has a substantial chance of prevailing on her appeal."

The court, in its decision Monday, did not give a clue on how it will rule on her petition to overturn the murder conviction.

Murphy and Rick Tabish were convicted of the 1998 slaying. Tabish is serving a sentence of 25 years to life.

During the oral arguments in June, justices asked the prosecutors numerous questions about the dual theories by the prosecution of how Binion was killed, whether Murphy should have been given a separate trial and whether prosecutors should have charged Binion's heroin dealer in his death.

Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz, representing Murphy, had asked for bail, and Sachs followed up with a written motion filed with the court.

Murphy "believes that ultimately she will be exonerated and she looks forward to that day," Sachs wrote. "Flight would be completely antithetical to that end."

After her arrest, Murphy was freed on $300,000 bail and ordered confined to her Las Vegas home. She violated the condition by visiting a furniture store and bail was revoked.