Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

ACCEPTANCE OF LEGAL FEES: Reliability of Binion witness questioned

One attorney says Gratzer's `credibility is less than zero'

Kurt Gratzer testifies April 4, 2000, in the Ted Binion murder trial. Photo by Jeff Scheid.

Rick Tabish's attorneys said Tuesday that one of the chief witnesses against Tabish in the Ted Binion murder case, Kurt Gratzer, has further eroded his credibility by accepting thousands in legal fees from people associated with Sandy Murphy's defense team.

"If it is true, he is basically a prostitute to whoever pays him," said Joseph Caramagno, who is one of Tabish's defense attorneys.

Tabish's San Francisco-based attorney, J. Tony Serra, said Tuesday that the payment of the legal fees further erodes Gratzer's already questionable credibility.

"He (Gratzer) was potentially paid money by the co-defendant," Serra said. "His credibility is less than zero."

Clark County District Attorney David Roger and Binion case prosecutor Christopher Lalli both declined to comment Tuesday on the future of Gratzer as a witness in the case.

Gratzer was considered an important witness in the first murder trial of Murphy and Tabish, who are charged with killing the millionaire Binion in 1998. Murphy and Tabish were each convicted by a jury of robbery, murder and other charges in 2000.

Each was sentenced to life in prison, but their convictions were overturned on appeal.

Murphy and Tabish are each awaiting a retrial before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure in October.

During the first trial, Gratzer testified that less than a month before Binion's death, Tabish tried to hire him to kill a wealthy casino owner in Las Vegas named Ted. Gratzer eventually received $20,000 in reward money from the Binion family estate following the trial.

But last week, Murphy's defense attorney, Michael Cristalli, filed an affidavit in which Gratzer said he repeatedly told prosecutors and police in 2000 that Murphy had nothing to do with Binion's death. Gratzer said in the affidavit that authorities told him to keep quiet about the potentially exculpatory information regarding Murphy.

On Monday, Roger said his office is now investigating three people associated with Murphy's defense team for possible witness tampering. Specifically, he said an investigation has confirmed those individuals paid $35,000 of legal bills incurred after the first trial by Gratzer, who has multiple arrests for driving under the influence and drugs.

Legal experts contacted by the Review-Journal Tuesday said Gratzer's credibility has been damaged by the payment of the legal bills.

" His credibility is diminished based on the fact he is taking money," said veteran Las Vegas defense attorney Ozzie Fumo. "If I'm the district attorney's office, I know Gratzer's testimony is going to be minimized. He's going to be torn apart. He's going to look like a whore."

Former federal prosecutor Charles Kelly, now a Las Vegas defense attorney, said he believes prosecutors will call Gratzer as a witness, but when they do, they'll have to warn the jury that Gratzer has problems.

"I'd call him, and I'll tell you why," Kelly said. "If Tabish solicited his participation (in a murder plot), then the government did not pick him as a witness. Tabish picked him.

"And, if I'm the government, I rely upon what he testified to under oath during the first trial," Kelly said. "I try to tell the jury that following the first trial, his life further unraveled, culminating in him needing assistance from anyone who would help him, and the defense team was certainly happy to provide that assistance."

Kelly also said the state doesn't have to abandon Gratzer as a witness because, during the first trial, prosecutors called three other witnesses who knew Gratzer. They each said Gratzer talked to them about Tabish hiring Gratzer as a potential hitman around the time Binion was killed.

"It's all about corroboration," Kelly said. "Any time you put a witness on the stand, particularly one as potentially damaging as Gratzer, the primary objective of the government becomes corroboration. They must corroborate his credibility to be in a position to rebut any attacks on his credibility."

But Kelly said from Tabish's perspective, Gratzer accepting the payment of his legal bills is also a potential gold mine for Tabish's defense.

"You can't believe anything he said," Kelly said the defense will likely argue. "When a man's life is at stake, his word is not strong enough."

Earlier this month, Tabish's attorneys filed a motion to limit or exclude Gratzer's testimony at the second trial. The request is based on the fact that Gratzer had received the $20,000 in reward money from the Binion estate after the first trial.

That motion, along with several others, is scheduled to be argued before Bonaventure in August.