DA may ask court to revisit Binion decision

Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | 11:02 a.m.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger said late Monday his office may ask the Nevada Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to overturn the murder convictions of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish.

The high court granted new trials Monday morning to both Murphy and Tabish in the 1998 death of wealthy casino executive Ted Binion.

"We're reviewing the decision to see if there are grounds to file a motion for a rehearing," Roger said, noting the chances of persuading the court to reconsider "are slim."

At the same time, Roger said he has assigned a pair of 37-year-old chief deputies, Christopher Lalli and Robert Daskas, to handle the retrial. The veteran prosecutors recently obtained the conviction of Timmy "T.J." Weber in the slaying of his girlfriend and son.

Roger, one of the original prosecutors in the Binion case, said he will assist his deputies, but will not be able to handle daily trial duties over the course of a potential two-month trial because of his administrative responsibilities.

Both Lalli and Daskas were described by Roger as meticulous in their approach to a prosecution.

"This is a complex case," Roger said. "It's important for us to dot our i's and cross our t's."

Roger also said he will oppose any move by Murphy and Tabish to gain their release on bail as they prepare for a second trial. Both have been serving time in the Nevada prison system.

"When pigs fly down Fremont Street is the time when you'll see us agree to set bail for these two defendants," Roger said.

Lawyers for Murphy and Tabish have suggested that bail motions might be among their first orders of business prior to a new trial, which is likely months away.

The foreman of the jury that convicted Murphy and Tabish, meanwhile, said Monday he was "very upset' that the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the convictions.

"It's a shame that we have to waste all of that money and do it all over again," Arthur Spear Jr. said. "I think the 12 of us worked very long hours trying to do the right thing and come up with the correct decision."

Spear, a retired aerospace engineer, said there was "absolutely no question" in his own mind that Murphy and Tabish killed the wealthy Binion at his Las Vegas home on Sept. 17, 1998.

He said he was confident the next jury will reach the same conclusion at the retrial.

"If they just study their notes and do the best job that they can, I'm sure they'll come up with the same decision we did," Spear said.

Following weeks of testimony, the jury led by Spear deliberated for eight days in May 2000 before finding Murphy and Tabish guilty of killing Binion and stealing his valuables.

In overturning the convictions Monday, the Supreme Court said District Judge Joseph Bonaventure erred by allowing Tabish to be tried on unrelated extortion charges at the murder trial. The court said the extortion charges, which involved an assault by Tabish against Jean sand pit operator Leo Casey two months before Binion's death, prejudiced the murder case against Murphy and Tabish. The court, however, upheld the extortion conviction.

Bonaventure, the court said, also improperly allowed the hearsay evidence from Binion's lawyer, James J. Brown, who testified that Binion told him the day before he died that he wanted to cut Murphy out of his will before she killed him.

But Spear said the jury did not consider the extortion charges and Brown's testimony when reaching its verdict.

"We had enough evidence to make our decision without that," he said.

Binion's sister Becky Behnen, the owner of Binion's Horseshoe, joined Spear in predicting the next jury would reach a similar verdict.

"I liken Ted's death to Laci Peterson's," Behnen said. "Both are victims of foul play, and you pray to God that justice will prevail.

"I have confidence that the next 12 jurors will be just as intelligent as the last 12 and come to the same conclusion."

Murphy, a 31-year-old onetime topless dancer, and Tabish, a 38-year-old Montana contractor, were convicted of killing Binion on May 19, 2000, following a seven-week trial carried live on local and national television.

Binion's body was found next to an empty bottle of Xanax on the floor of his 2408 Palomino Lane home on Sept. 17, 1998. His house had been looted of its valuables, including a $300,000 collection of antique currency and coins. Two days later Tabish and two other men were arrested on theft charges in Pahrump after they had dug up Binion's $6 million silver fortune from an underground vault.

Police later learned that Murphy, Binion's live-in girlfriend, and Tabish were romantically involved at the time of the 55-year-old gaming executive's death. The defendants, prosecutors charged, killed Binion to gain access to his money.

Detectives originally thought that Binion, a known heroin and alcohol abuser, had died of a drug overdose. His death turned into a homicide investigation two weeks later, after toxicology tests found that he had lethal levels of heroin and Xanax in his stomach.

Private investigator Tom Dillard, who was hired by Binion's $55 million estate, assisted homicide detectives in the probe, interviewed some 100 witnesses who raised questions about the gambling figure's death.

Dillard said Monday that he believed the reversals were not the result of problems with the evidence against Murphy and Tabish.

"This is a legal issue that has to be dealt with," Dillard said. "They get another bite at the apple. They're very lucky."

At the well-publicized trial, carried live on national television, prosecutors presented a circumstantial case, alleging that Murphy and Tabish pumped the former Binion's Horseshoe co-owner with drugs and then suffocated him.

Following their convictions, Bonaventure sentenced Murphy to a minimum of 22 years in prison and Tabish to a minimum of 25 years behind bars.

Murphy's lawyer Herb Sachs said he was pleased his client will get another opportunity to prove her innocence.

"We're happy that she's going to have the chance to defend herself, and we hope that justice will be done," Sachs said.

Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz, who argued Murphy's appeal, said a second trial will give the defense a chance to present new medical evidence.

In a full-page newspaper add two weeks ago, Murphy supporters attacked the testimony of Dr. Michael Baden, a well-known forensic pathologist who was the chief medical witness for the prosecution.

Baden testified that circular red marks on Binion's chest were the result of pressure from someone trying to suffocate him by an 18th century method called burking.

But the defense said it has an expert witness, a leading dermatologist who will testify the marks are not the result of trauma but rather a skin condition.

Witnesses also will testify for the defense that marks around Binion's mouth were not the result of an effort to suffocate him and that marks on one of his wrists were not from being restrained with handcuffs.

Sachs said he now expects Murphy will regain her rights to a Binion's 2408 Palomino Lane home, its contents and $300,000 in cash left to her in Binion's will.

The home was sold for $750,000, but Murphy could now have a claim on that money, Sachs said.

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