Witnesses to testify about Murphy-Tabish romance

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Friday, Oct. 8, 2004 | 8:59 a.m.

Witnesses will testify about the romantic relationship between Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy during the pair's retrial on murder charges in the death of Ted Binion, District Judge Joseph Bonaventure ruled Thursday.

Tabish's attorneys, J. Tony Serra and Joseph Caramagno, filed a motion last week seeking to bar any evidence of the relationship between Tabish and Murphy from the trial, scheduled to begin Monday.

Tabish and Murphy are accused of murdering Binion in 1998. The former part-owner of Binion's Horseshoe was found dead in the Las Vegas home he shared with Murphy. Tabish and Murphy previously were convicted of killing Binion, but those convictions were overturned.

Tabish, who remains jailed, was at Thursday's hearing. Murphy, who is free on bail, did not attend the hearing. She was with her parents in California, her lawyer Michael Cristalli said.

Tabish's lawyer Ana Ling told Bonaventure the defense would "concede there was a sexual relationship between the two defendants" during opening arguments at trial, but if witnesses were allowed to testify about the relationship the jury could ultimately base a conviction on "whether they like or dislike the defendants" rather than on evidence of a homicide.

"This is a homicide, not a divorce case," Ling said. "Morally jurors might not like my client because of the relationship. The state wants to introduce it because it makes jurors not like Mr. Tabish. It's asking the jury to make a moral judgment irrelevant to the actual charges."

Ling reasoned that by stipulating to the fact the relationship occurred, the trial could be shortened by almost three days because roughly 11 witnesses wouldn't have to testify.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas argued the relationship is relevant because the events witnesses will testify to "were done behind Ted Binion's back." He said testimony that Tabish bragged he was sleeping with Murphy to get Binion's silver and Murphy wondered if taking Tabish to the opening of the Bellagio would be be too soon after Binion's death are certainly relevant.

Daskas said the prosecution is "entitled to try our case as we see fit," and Bonaventure agreed.

"The government is not required to accept a stipulation on evidence it wishes to present," Bonaventure said. "I can't allow the defense to make the state stipulate away their case."

Bonaventure spent the rest of the day hearing arguments and issuing rulings on a handful of pretrial motions.

But one issue -- Tabish's motion to exclude testimony of witnesses who were paid reward money by the Binion estate after the first trial -- won't be decided by Bonaventure until Wednesday.

Bonaventure agreed to hold off on a decision until the defense received paperwork from private investigator Tom Dillard about the witness payments.

Cristalli said the payment of $100,000 to eight witnesses "smells, is wrong and shouldn't happen."

Tabish's lawyer Sherry Greenberger asked, "Why should a witness be paid to come to court to tell the truth? To pay for witness testimony is not appropriate and is not sanctioned under law."

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli said the defense lawyers were wrong to allege the reward money was offered in exchange for testimony and were wrong to allege the prosecutors in the first case were "paying cash to witnesses and looking the other way."

Lalli said the witnesses were paid at the discretion of the Binion estate for supplying what it deemed to be important information in the case. He noted not all of the eight people given reward money testified at the trial.

"There is nothing sinister about paying rewards," Lalli said. "Rewards occur in almost every homicide case, and this case is no different."

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday morning.