Defense hammers away at drug overdose theory

By Matt Pordum

Monday, Nov. 8, 2004 | 9:40 a.m.

Defense lawyers for alleged killers of Ted Binion today resumed their efforts to convince jurors that the millionaire casino figure was the victim of an overdose -- not homicide.

But, as Rick Tabish's lead attorney, J. Tony Serra, noted last week: All they have to do is get jurors to agree that there is reasonable doubt about whether Sandy Murphy and Tabish killed Binion.

On Friday the defense had its toxicologist testify that the amount of drugs Ted Binion's body contained "were sufficient to be lethal and enough to cause" his death.

Dr. James Garriott, who specializes in forensic toxicology, said while the doses of Xanax and Valium found in Binion's body were "unlikely to have killed Binion" the combination of the two with the levels of heroin found in his blood system was a "lethal combination in, I would say, almost anyone."

Under the questioning of Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli, however, Garriott did qualify his opinion. The drugs in Binion were "enough to cause death, but I can't say it killed him," Garriott said.

Garriott's testimony was the defense counter to the prosecution's chief medical witness, forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden. Baden is the star of the long-running HBO show, "Autopsy," and has testified in numerous high-profile cases including the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

Garriott's conclusion mirrored that of Dr. Lary Simms, Clark County's chief medical examiner, who testified that "lethal doses" of heroin and Xanax were found in Binion's blood, as was a "therapeutic" level of Valium. He said the presence of all three drugs collectively increased their volatility and led to Binion's death.

Garriott and Simms' findings go against Baden's belief that the levels of the drugs present increased euphoria, but did not increase the risk of death because the levels were too low.

Baden said although the levels of Xanax and heroin found in Binion might be considered lethal for some drug users, Binion had developed a tolerance for the drugs

But Garriott testified Friday that when a longtime heroin user who has quit taking the drug starts up again with the same size dose they left off with, that can cause an overdose. He said tolerance wanes "over weeks or months and often in the matter of days."

Although Garriott stuck to his opinion that Binion had a lethal amount of the dcombined drugs in his system he did say "the final determination must be made by a pathologist."

Baden had testified that after reviewing Binion's toxicology report and researching his heroin addiction, he was able to deduce that the amount of heroin in Binion's system was "typical for recreational users' who had been longtime users -- as Binion had been.

Garriott said he was never presented with Baden's findings regarding Binion's death and when Lalli told him Baden determined Binion's death to be the result of "forced suffocation" he said it he was "not sure it would affect my opinion."

Garriott did say, however, the presence "of other specific pathology findings" would change his opinion about the cause of Binion's death.

The prosecution -- using Baden's medical findings -- alleges Murphy and Tabish suffocated Binion and tried to make it look like an overdose.

Tabish and Murphy had been lovers at the time of Binion's death, even though Murphy was living with Binion. In 2000 Tabish and Murphy were convicted of murdering Binion and were sentenced to life in prison, but the Nevada Supreme Court later overturned the convictions.

The defense's first day of witnesses in the re-trial also included lawyer Bill Knudson.

Knudson, who assisted Tabish in forming three corporations and would later represent Murphy, said he met the couple at the Z'Tejas restaurant on Paradise Road at Twain Avenue on Sept. 17, 1998. A receipt that he said was from the meal they ordered was stamped at 2:51 p.m.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas and challenged Knudson's story with Knudson and Tabish's cell phone records from that afternoon. They indicated that Knudson called Tabish at 3:09 p.m.

Daskas there would be "no reason to call Tabish if you (Knudson) were sitting with him at lunch." Knudson first tried to suggest the call was the result of his phone's redial button being accidentally "bumped."

Daskas used Knudson's phone records to show he couldn't have gotten in touch with Tabish by pressing redial because the call proceeding the one to Tabish was to a different person.

In the end Knudson said he had "no explanation for the phone call."

Additionally Knudson said the lunch was accompanied by social discussion with a "relaxed" Tabish and a "giddy" Murphy, but home records for Tabish showed he was on the phone for 17 minutes during the same time frame of the alleged meal.

Knudson said he had no recollection of Tabish being on the phone during the lunch.

Knudson maintained, however, that he was at lunch with Murphy and Tabish on Sept. 17, 1998, and that afterward he went to Tabish's office to discuss legal matters.

Knudson, who was the cameraman for a videotaped inventory of the contents of Binion's home on Sept. 18, testified that in addition to Murphy taking clothes, jewelry and personal items from the Binion home that day, she also took some items not captured on tape.

Knudson said after he had completed making the video with Jim Brown, attorney for the Binion estate, Murphy took a silver coin collection and an undetermined amount of cash out of the home while Brown was outside and the videocamera was turned off.

He said he kept the information to himself because coming forward with it would have violated his attorney-client privilege with Murphy. Knudson said he was only testifying as to such on Friday because he had received a waiver of the privilege.

Knudson said he allowed Murphy to store the coins at his home. From there, Murphy took the coins to Oscar Goodman's office for safekeeping. later bring them to her former attorney Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's office for "safekeeping." At that time, Goodman had not yet become mayor and was still working as a defense lawyer.

Goodman had been expected to testify on Friday that Murphy brought coins to his law office on Sept. 19, 1998, and that she asked him to hold them until she could retrieve them a couple of weeks later.

But the prosecution and the defense instead agreed to a stipulation regarding Goodman's testimony, saying there was no reason for him to be called as a witness.

Under the stipulation the jury will be told Murphy dropped off the coins to Goodman at his law offices and retrieved them weeks later.

Prosecutors allege Murphy stole the coins from the home she shared with Binion, but the defense has argued she believed she was entitled to the coins and took them on the day of videotaped inventory was made -- the day after Binion's death at age 55.

The defense was scheduled to continue its case this morning.