Attorney makes motion to keep Murphy out of custody

By Matt Pordum

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005 | 8:42 a.m.

Just in case Sandy Murphy is sentenced to prison time later this month for stealing Ted Binion's silver, her attorney filed a motion Monday to allow her to remain out of custody on bail until her appeal is heard.

Murphy's attorney, Michael Cristalli, has said he doesn't expect District Judge Joe Bonaventure will sentence Murphy to prison time at her Jan. 28 hearing. Cristalli said he filed the motion simply as a measure of "the utmost of caution."

On Nov. 23 a Clark County jury acquitted Murphy and Rick Tabish of murdering Binion but found them guilty of conspiring to commit burglary and/or larceny as well as guilty of burglary and grand larceny.

Cristalli said Murphy demonstrated she was not a flight risk, appearing for each and every court appearance before and during the over six-week trial, and that behavior should be honored by extending her bail.

"As she (Murphy) waited outside the courthouse for the verdict to be returned, knowing she might be momentarily remanded into custody for an indeterminable life term, a spectator yelled, 'Sandy, it's not too late to take off for Mexico,' " the motion states. "Without a modicum of hesitation, Defendant Murphy responded, 'Only cowards run.' She (Murphy) then proceeded into Courtroom 3 to receive the jury's verdict."

Cristalli remains confident Murphy will receive credit for the four years she has already served in prison and not be subject to any additional punishment at sentencing.

She spent those years behind bars after she and Tabish were convicted in 2000 of murder in connection with Binion's death. At that time the two were sentenced to life in prison, but the Nevada Supreme Court later overturned the convictions.

The overturning of that conviction means that Murphy has no criminal record, Cristalli notes in his motion. So if Bonaventure determines "further supervision is warranted than it is respectfully requested probation be granted."

If Bonaventure decides to "impose further incarceration" Cristalli not only seeks to have Murphy's bail continued through her appeal on the silver count convictions, but also asks for the bail reduced.

Cristalli said standard bail for her charges is $8,000 and at the very least he hopes Bonaventure would "substantially reduce" the $250,000 she has already posted.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas who prosecuted Murphy and Tabish said Monday that he didn't want to comment on the motion until he had time to read it.

Cristalli said he continues to work on Murphy's appeal and is preparing for her sentencing later this month. "The facts of the case against Sandy are tenuous at best," he said.

The defense attorney said the only connection between Murphy and the silver in Pahrump produced at the re-trial were "some calls that could be tracked to a phone she was using while Rick and others were in Pahrump." He said the evidence never showed Murphy was the person talking to Tabish at the time or that she had any idea as to what he was doing in Pahrump.

Cristalli said the jury had reached a compromise verdict to include the guilty determination regarding the silver, so Murphy would "be successful on appeal."

He said Murphy is currently in California where she is doing administrative work for William Fuller, the octogenarian mining executive who posted her bail and financed her defense at the re-trial.

Tabish is currently serving an 18- to 120-month prison sentence for his kidnapping and extortion conviction which stemmed from the 1998 beating of a man at a sandpit in Jean.