Columnist Jeff German: Fund-raiser could be invitation to scrutiny

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 4:27 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

July 3 - 4, 2004

There's an old saying that if you combine a lawyer and a politician, two of our most disrespected professions, you get an honorable member of society -- a judge.

Our system of selecting judges has never been clean. The problem is that judges and judicial candidates have to campaign and raise money. That's the way the system works.

Generally the candidates find themselves turning to the people they know best -- lawyers -- for contributions, which leaves them open to potential conflicts of interest.

Consider the upcoming fund-raiser for Joe Bonaventure, who's running for a seat in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Bonaventure, a 2001 Boyd Law School graduate, is the son and namesake of District Judge Joe Bonaventure, who gained national attention presiding over the high profile Ted Binion murder trial.

On July 15 Angelo Cassaro and Nick Montana, longtime friends of Judge Bonaventure and the owners of the Town Center Lounge II, are throwing a campaign bash for the judge's son at their West Cheyenne Avenue tavern. Tango Pools founder Tony Tegano also is a co-host.

That, in itself, is no big deal. But the fourth co-host listed on the invitation is causing a few jaws to drop at the courthouse. His name is Michael Cristalli, one of the lead defense attorneys in the Binion retrial, which Judge Bonaventure plans to preside over in October.

Cristalli, who was Judge Bonaventure's law clerk in 1995, inherited the top spot on Sandy Murphy's defense team last month after Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin withdrew from the case.

Cristalli certainly has a right to campaign for the candidate of his choice, but in this campaign he would have been wiser to refrain from backing Judge Bonaventure's son so openly.

Jeff Stempel, a Boyd Law School professor who specializes in ethics, says Cristalli's role in the younger Bonaventure's campaign isn't enough to force Judge Bonaventure off the Binion retrial or result in any disciplinary action.

It just looks bad.

"It doesn't cast the (judge) or the extended family of the (judge) in a great light when you have things like that happening," Stempel says.

This perception is magnified in the context of the Binion case, the most watched murder case of all time in Las Vegas. The motives of prosecutors, defense lawyers, detectives and even Judge Bonaventure all have been questioned throughout the epic legal proceedings.

Most of those involved in the case have learned to be extra careful to avoid even the appearance of inappropriate conduct.

In this instance Judge Bonaventure thinks it would be a good idea for his son to send out an "amended" invitation without Cristalli's name on it.

Cristalli says he wasn't rying to score points with the judge to benefit Murphy as the retrial approaches.

"This has nothing to do with me helping Sandy," he says. "To be honest with you, I would have done this whether I was involved in this case or not. I've known little Joe since I came out here 10 years ago."

Cristalli says his role in the fund-raiser is minimal. He attended a meeting weeks ago with Cassaro and Montana to plan the event. But he insists his only contribution was to provide a list of lawyers (potential donors) to invite.

The younger Bonaventure, however, acknowledges that Cristalli also has made a financial contribution ($1,000) to his campaign.

Still, the younger Bonaventure says he sees nothing wrong with accepting Cristalli's help.

When he saw Cristalli's name on the invitation, he says, he "didn't give it a second thought."

His father, however, has been thinking about it.

Judge Bonaventure swears that this will have no impact on his future decisions in the Binion case.

"It's not going to affect me one way or the other," he says.

But now, through no fault of his own, he has to deal with the perception that it could affect him -- and in a case where everyone's watching.