Columnist Jeff German: Publicity machine surrounds Binion II

Friday, Nov. 28, 2003 | 3:33 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION Nov. 29 - 30, 2003

IT ALMOST pains me to say this, but Southern Nevada's most-publicized murder case is about to crank up again.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure will hold a hearing Dec. 15 to, among other things, set a new trial date for Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish on charges of killing wealthy gambling figure Ted Binion in 1998.

The Nevada Supreme Court earlier this year overturned the murder convictions.

This time the defense is bringing in high-priced legal talent, well known to reporters around the country, in a bid to win an acquittal at Binion II.

But prosecutors aren't planning to let the high-octane dream team steal the show.

District Attorney David Roger tells me the defense can expect some newsworthy surprises the second time around.

Before we get to that, however, let's look at the heavy-hitting defense lineup, which, by itself, is guaranteed to keep the next "trial of the century" in the public eye.

Murphy, reportedly with the help of her millionaire benefactor, William Fuller, has retained Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin as her lead counsel.

DeGuerin, who represented David Koresh at Waco, is a hot property within the legal community.

This month he won an acquittal in Galveston, Texas for real estate heir Robert Durst, who was charged with killing his neighbor, Morris Black. The acquittal, which drew national attention, came even though DeGuerin put Durst on the stand to admit that he killed Black (by accident) and then mutilated and dumped his body.

It was a bold strategy that could be used in Binion II. Both Murphy and Tabish have expressed regret that they didn't take the witness stand in their first trial.

Tabish, meanwhile, has hired San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra, a rabble-rousing, pony-tailed liberal who was the subject of the 1989 film, "True Believer," starring James Woods.

And working behind the scenes for the defense is media magnet Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard University law professor who helped persuade the Supreme Court to overturn the Binion murder convictions. Dershowitz doubles as a celebrity lawyer and legal consultant to television networks.

On the prosecution side, Roger won't be retrying the case, but he plans to play a supervisory role. He has assigned two of his better deputies, Christopher Lalli and Robert Daskas, to tangle with the dream team.

As for those surprises, Roger won't get specific, but he suggests that prosecutors may attempt to link additional conspirators to the Binion murder plot. A wider murder conspiracy certainly would be big news.

Two candidates for stepped-up scrutiny are David Mattsen, Binion's former ranch manager, and Michael Milot, a Tabish employee who was arrested with Tabish and Mattsen on charges of digging up Binion's $6 million silver fortune in Pahrump after his Sept. 17, 1998 death.

Prosecutors have evidence putting Mattsen and Milot in Tabish's presence before and after the slaying.

Then there's the wild card in this media-friendly case, William Cassidy, a former Binion defense strategist who entered an Alford plea this month to two felony charges stemming from the alleged sexual assault of his wife. Under Alford, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges there is evidence to convict him.

Cassidy tells me he's still itching to help prosecutors prove Binion was murdered and provide them with leads to possible related crimes.

But nervous prosecutors continue to avoid him, believing they are barred from using his information because it falls under attorney-client privilege. They don't want to jeopardize their case by being perceived as intruding on the privacy of the defense.

Cassidy, however, believes he has information that isn't covered under the privilege.

He says he's hoping Bonaventure now will be the judge of whether he can divulge his secrets in Binion II.

Just the thought of that should be enough to make the dream team nervous -- and bring more publicity to Southern Nevada's most-publicized murder case.