Judge lays into Tabish attorney

By Matt Pordum

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure chastised Rick Tabish's local attorney Wednesday saying the lawyer's "win at all costs" strategy and "unsavory" ethics are typical of the reasons that "people hate lawyers."

Bonaventure, who has a reputation for yelling when he gets angry in court, appeared to be trying very hard to keep his cool as he read a prepared statement about a letter attorney Joseph Caramagno wrote to Tabish's brother, Greg. The letter was introduced as part of Tabish's former lead attorney J. Tony Serra's motion to withdraw from the case.

Bonaventure granted Serra's motion on Wednesday saying he had "even more respect for Serra now" because of the legal and moral standards he showed by "not buying into" the strategy Caramagno was looking to employ prior to and at sentencing.

The letter written by Caramagno included disparaging remarks about Bonaventure and laid out a strategy to hire a high profile attorney to pressure Bonaventure into making a mistake.

Bonaventure told Caramagno, who had come to Las Vegas in 2003, that he had been building a good reputation until now. "You blew it," the judge told Caramagno. "That (letter) is not the way to lawyer in Nevada."

Bonaventure said he would let the Nevada Bar Association investigate the "unsavory and unethical" practices Caramagno wrote about in the letter, which included trying to bring on a "hired gun to create havoc, to create error and get me to yell."

After the hearing, however, Bonaventure's law clerk said the judge has not filed a complaint against Caramagno with the state bar association and does not intend to.

But Bonaventure said that Caramagno's conduct could be a topic of discussion at the first-ever Clark County Bar Association Summit on Professionalism set for March 4. He said he was informed by court administrator Cecilia Aguilar the association was currently looking for examples of bad lawyering.

"They could make a miniseries out of the unprofessional conduct (in this case)," Bonaventure said. "Maybe I'll have to give her (Aguilar) a call."

Clark County District Attorney David Roger said his office would not be filing a complaint against Caramagno with the state bar either.

"The party who is aggrieved has the option of making a referral to the state bar, and we will not be doing it on his behalf," Roger said.

The Nevada Bar Association's discipline of lawyers may take one of four forms depending on the particular circumstances and the severity of the offense.

These four disciplinary sanctions: a private reprimand which is also kept on file at the state bar; a public reprimand which is published in the local newspapers and official state bar publications; suspension of the lawyer's license to practice law for up to five years; or disbarment.

Caramagno has said he plans to file a complaint with the state bar against Serra. Caramagno said Serra violated Tabish's right to attorney-client privilege by filing the letter as part of Serra's motion to withdraw as Tabish's attorney.

He also said the Tabish family intends to file a lawsuit against Serra for making the letter public.

In the letter Caramagno tells Tabish's brother "we need to go on the offensive" by filing several presentencing motions. He explains they should hire Bruce Cutler, a lawyer who won three cases for East Coast mob boss John Gotti.

He goes on to say "there is no stronger person to advocate these motions and argue them before Bonaventure than Bruce (Cutler)."

"Even if it breaks into an all out screaming match between Bruce (Cutler) and Bonaventure, this will benefit us in that Bonaventure will be pressured into making statements on the record which can be used against him in an immediate appeal in the denial of the motions to the Supreme Court of Nevada," Caramagno wrote.

Caramagno also wrote that he believes the Nevada Supreme Court holds Bonaventure in "low regard" and the state's highest court "would not hesitate to reverse any ruling he makes on our motions as long as they are presented with strong factual and legal basis."

He wrote that bringing Cutler on to the defense team would "no doubt place greater pressure on Bonaventure." Caramagno also referred to the possibility of a national media campaign to "advocate our position and argue the motions on a national stage" prior to sentencing.

Bonaventure characterized the letter as "unbelievable" and couldn't fathom how Caramagno believed "a great injustice is taking place." He went on to list several ways in which he'd gone to great lengths to be fair to Tabish during the trial.

"I allowed Tabish to be dressed up (in a suit) even though he was already in prison on the Casey counts," Bonaventure read from a prepared statement. "I allowed him to stay at the Nevada Department of Corrections even though we had to transport him back and forth every day just so he could use the library and have more freedom.

"I allowed him to eat lunch in my courtroom so he could talk with his attorneys," Bonaventure said as the volume of his voice raised. "I kept out his wife's statement and kept out the will statement. I don't know how (much more) fair I can be in this case."

Bonaventure questioned how Caramagno who had only passed the Nevada Bar exam in 2003 could "presume to know me and my 30-year career." The judge said he couldn't understand how Caramagno could conclude that Bonaventure would be impressed or placed under stress by calling "big shot" lawyer Cutler into the case.

"You don't get stressed when you sit on this bench in Las Vegas for 30 years," Bonaventure said. "I'm influenced by the facts of the case and not by 'Entertainment Tonight' or 'Inside Edition.' "

Bonaventure would later say any motion to bring Cutler on as co-counsel would most likely be denied based on what was expressed in the letter.

The judge assured Tabish he would continue to be fair to him and not exercise any ill will to him due to the actions of Caramagno.

"It's crucial (that) Mr. Tabish understand I don't hold any of this against him," Bonaventure said.

Bonaventure said he would not recuse himself from the case as a result of Caramagno's letter. He said he would continue to be impartial and would not leave the case because doing so would be to give in to Caramagno's desired "improper forum shopping."

To close his statement Bonaventure pulled out a photo taken of Caramagno with Bonaventure's family at a party held to celebrate his son Joe Bonaventure's election to Las Vegas Justice of the Peace. He looked at the picture with disgust and told his clerk to "give it back to Caramagno. My sister doesn't want this in my house."

Caramagno had been a supporter of Joe Bonaventure's campaign.

Tabish, who sat next to Caramagno throughout the attorney's scolding, stood before Bonaventure and told him that he and his family thought Bonaventure gave Tabish a fair trial, and he was "highly upset about" the letter.

He told Bonaventure that he wasn't sure whether Caramagno would stay on as his attorney, but minutes later Caramagno emerged from the judge's chambers to say he will remain Tabish's attorney.

"I'm definitely still on board and I still believe he (Bonaventure) will be fair to Rick (Tabish)," Caramagno said. "Rick (Tabish) knows I've gone above and beyond anything he's ever asked me to do in his case and I believed in him when no one else did."

In court Caramagno was allowed to respond to Bonaventure's statement, and did so saying "my reputation is unsavory. I'm responsible for what I wrote in that letter."

Caramagno said he was in the wrong "frame of mind" when he wrote the letter to Greg Tabish. He said someone he trusted gave him information that indicated "perhaps something unfair was going to happen to Rick (Tabish) at sentencing."

The defense attorney said he realized he now has "no credibility with you (Bonaventure) or any other judge in this courthouse."

Caramagno said Bonaventure had welcomed him to Las Vegas with "open arms" as a "fellow New Yorker, fellow Italian and fellow attorney," sees him now as a "backstabber and phony."

Caramagno said his first inclination was to "pack his bags and go back where I come from," but decided to stay in hopes he can "earn back your respect."

Bonaventure didn't respond to Caramagno's apology.

The judge did set a date for both arguments and a decision on Caramagno's motion for a new trial and sentencing for the same date.

Bonaventure said on March 11 the defense and prosecutors should be prepared to argue on the motion for a new trial and if he denies it they should also be prepared to go ahead with sentencing.

Tabish is currently serving an 18- to 120-month prison sentence for a kidnapping and extortion conviction that stemmed from the 1998 beating of Tabish's former business partner Leo Casey.

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

Murphy, who was in court on Wednesday, is currently living in California where she is doing administrative work for William Fuller, the octogenarian mining executive who posted her $250,000 bail and financed her defense at the re-trial.

With the convictions on three theft counts, Tabish and Murphy each face anywhere from probation to a maximum of 21 years in prison at sentencing before Bonaventure, according to Clark County District Attorney David Roger. Roger said conspiracy to commit burglary is a gross misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of one year at the Clark County Detention Center.

The maximum sentence for burglary is 10 years and grand larceny carries a sentence of one to 10 years.

In 2000 Tabish and Murphy were convicted of murdering Binion, but were granted a new trial after the Nevada Supreme Court overturned their convictions.

Prosecutors at both trials alleged Tabish and Murphy suffocated 55-year-old Binion on Sept. 17, 1998 and tried to make it look like a drug overdose. A day later Tabish tried to steal Binion's silver in Pahrump, prosecutors said.

The defense contended that Binion died of an accidental overdose of heroin, Xanax and Valium and that Tabish was simply following Binion's orders when he tried to recover and preserve the silver for Binion's silver.