Doubt in cause of death cited in Binion appeal

Erin Neff

Thursday, June 27, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

Famed law professor Alan Dershowitz asked the Nevada Supreme Court this morning to overturn Sandy Murphy's murder conviction because jurors were split on the cause of Ted Binion's death.

Since two different state witnesses offered conflicting medical findings about how Binion died, Dershowitz said jurors could not have made a unanimous finding.

"Six, or maybe some number less than that, may well have concluded the cause of death was not a drug overdose, and six may well have concluded the cause of death was not suffocation," Dershowitz said.

His arguments came this morning during a rare televised proceeding two years after Murphy and Rick Tabish were found guilty of killing the casino executive in his home on Sept. 17, 1998.

Murphy, 30, Binion's live-in girlfriend, is serving a minimum of 22 years in prison, and Tabish, a 37-year-old Montana contractor, is serving at least 25 years behind bars.

Prosecutors alleged during the trial that Murphy and Tabish, who were having a romantic affair, pumped the 55-year-old Binion with drugs, suffocated him, then stole his valuables.

Defense lawyers argued that Binion either committed suicide or overdosed accidentally.

Dershowitz said jurors needed more information to determine whether, in fact, the cause of death was undetermined or homicide, given the conflicting testimony from the witnesses.

Dr. Michael Baden, a famed forensic pathologist from New York, had testified that Binion died as a result of "burking," a 19th century procedure in which pressure is put on the chest as the nose and mouth are covered.

Clark County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lary Simms had testified that Binion's death was a forced overdose on heroin and Xanax.

By calling conflicting witnesses, prosecutors assumed a risk, he said.

"They made their bed and they have to sleep in it," Dershowitz argued.

Prosecutor David Wall responded that the conflicting determinations of death are not important, as long as both witnesses concluded the manner of death was homicide.

Justice Myron Leavitt grilled Wall on Binion's cause of death during a five-minute exchange.

"If you had a question, why didn't you prosecute Peter Sheridan?" Leavitt asked. "Your cause of death could have been an overdose or a suffocation."

Sheridan sold Binion the heroin and testified at the trial, but was not prosecuted.

Wall said the drug dealer was not prosecuted because drugs alone might not have killed Binion.

Dershowitz said that statement was grounds for a new trial.

"This whole case has been wasting your court's time," he told the justices. "They can't get up to this court now and say, 'Whoops, we change our minds."'

Dershowitz then asked for permission to apply for bail for Murphy.

"She has been a model prisoner and she is determined to prove her innocence," he said.

Tabish's attorney, William Terry, began this morning's proceedings telling the court they must consider "multiple issues" of jury misconduct in the case, ranging from note-sharing by jurors and the instructions and definition of charges that framed their deliberations.

"You have the cumulative effect of these errors that rose to the level of guilt after eight days of deliberation," Terry said.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue its opinion within the next several months.