Cable channel to air two big cases

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 | 11:19 a.m.

Las Vegas ONE is planning live television coverage of Nevada Supreme Court arguments in two high-profile criminal cases later this month.

The all-news cable channel, in a television first, hopes to air hearings from Carson City on June 25 in the Jessica Williams case and June 27 in the Ted Binion murder case.

Chief Justice Bill Maupin, at the request Las Vegas ONE General Manager Bob Stoldal, last Wednesday signed unprecedented orders giving the news channel permission to broadcast the arguments.

"It is our belief that Las Vegas ONE viewers in Southern Nevada would benefit greatly from witnessing these Nevada Supreme Court proceedings," Stoldal said in a letter to the high court last month.

Stoldal said he wanted a television camera inside the hearings to "record and possibly broadcast live" the two cases.

Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable channels 1 and 39, a partnership of KLAS Channel 8, the Las Vegas Sun and Cox Cable, carried both trials live in 2001 from gavel to gavel.

Williams now is appealing her conviction of driving under the influence when her van hit and killed six Las Vegas teenagers on Interstate 15 on March 19, 2000.

And Binion defendants Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish are seeking to overturn their convictions in the Sept. 17, 1998, slaying of the wealthy casino executive.

Media lawyer Dominic Gentile, who represents the Las Vegas Sun and other news organizations, said this is the first time the Supreme Court has agreed to allow television cameras to carry any of its hearings live.

"I don't think anybody has tried to broadcast a Supreme Court hearing, mainly because they're usually boring to the public," Gentile said. "Probably the reason they're doing it now is that both of these cases have had a great deal of public attention at the trial level."

Prosecutors and defense lawyers in the Williams appeal did not oppose the television coverage.

"There's tremendous public interest in the Jessica Williams case," said Ellen Bezian, an attorney for Williams. "The public, I believe, is entitled to hear the merits of the arguments on her behalf."

In the Binion case, Murphy's attorney, Herb Sachs, supported Las Vegas One's request.

"We did not oppose it because we don't think having cameras in the courtroom would have any impact on the Supreme Court's ruling in this matter," he said.

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who is no stranger to dealing with the media, has asked the Supreme Court for permission to argue on Murphy's behalf on June 27.

Binion prosecutors David Roger and David Wall, both now running for elected office, also did not oppose the request.

"It's a sign of how technology has to co-exist with the criminal justice system," Wall said. "It's also reflective of the tremendous public interest in this case, even two years later."

Roger said the live coverage will give the public a chance to see the inner-workings of the state's highest court.

"People learned about the criminal justice system through watching the Binion murder trial every day for six weeks," he said. "Now they will be able to learn about the appellate process."

But Tabish's lawyer, William Terry, filed papers opposing cameras at the June 27 hearing.

"The primary goal of the judiciary is to ascertain the truth," Terry wrote. "Television does not contribute materially to this objective."

Terry said he was concerned that if the high court ultimately granted Tabish a new trial, the media coverage from the hearing could taint the selection process for a future jury and harm his client's right to a fair second trial

Justice Maupin noted Terry's objection in his order granting Las Vegas ONE's request.

Maupin, who is running for re-election this year, assigned Stoldal to coordinate the "orderly" pool coverage of both hearings.

The Williams arguments are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on June 25, and the Binion case is set for 9 a.m. on June 27.