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You can't please everyone -

Rudin to ask for removal of Amador from her case

By PETER O'CONNELL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/May-09-Wed-2001/news/16055563.html

Murderer Margaret Rudin is scheduled to tell a judge this morning that she wants defense attorney Michael Amador removed from her case.

In an April 13 letter addressed to Amador, a hand-written copy of which was obtained by the Review-Journal, Rudin makes clear her displeasure with the attorney's performance during her trial in the death of her millionaire husband, Ron.

"You come to court unprepared, tired, pale and looking stressed," she wrote. "You have increased my stress to unbearable limits on too many occasions."

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, who presided at the trial that ended in a first-degree murder conviction last week, is scheduled to consider Rudin's request at a hearing this morning.

During the trial, Rudin unsuccessfully sought a mistrial on the grounds that Amador was not prepared to question some witnesses.

But the criticisms lodged in the April letter are far more pointed than any of her prior comments.

In the letter, she objected to Amador's public claim that he was representing her without compensation.

She said she signed a contract pledging to pay him $250,000 if she ever had the money. She said he reminded her during the trial that he still expected to be paid.

In her letter, Rudin told Amador she signed a prior contract that called for him "to explore media rights assigned to you."

Amador has repeatedly said he did not intend to profit from any such deals.

"I don't write books. I don't make movies," he told Bonaventure last year. "I am here to defend an innocent person."

In her letter, Rudin said Amador informed her during the trial that he planned to write a book about the case and that he thought there would be a subsequent movie made.

"I realized you have somehow written your contracts where you intend to profit immensely from my case!" Rudin wrote.

The defendant said she would not have objected to these arrangements had Amador invested more time in trial preparation.

She challenged his assertion that he had placed on hold all of his other cases and practiced celibacy in order to devote all his energies to the murder trial.

Rudin said she had learned he continued to work on other cases, and said she was concerned that his personal life was damaging his trial performance.

"Lately, I have come to believe the lawyer who said to you + I that everyone is wondering if you're on cocaine as your actions are so irrational compared to your words," she wrote.

Through his son, Michael Amador Jr., Amador declined a request for an interview Tuesday. He specifically declined to comment on Rudin's concern about drug use.

In her letter, Rudin said she was frustrated that Amador was unable to produce in court certain documents she had provided him.

She said these were scattered in various places, including the downtown hotel room in which Amador stayed for much of the trial after he separated from his wife, Lisa Nowak.

Rudin also sought a letter confirming that Amador was not writing a book with author John Connolly, or assisting him in a project with her former friend, Yehuda Sharon.

Prosecutors have said they believe Sharon may have helped dispose of Ron Rudin's body, a claim Sharon testified is false. Last week, jury foreman Ron Vest said all 12 jurors believed Sharon played some role in the crime.

In an April 8 letter to Amador, also obtained by the Review-Journal, Rudin said Connolly interviewed her while she visited Amador's office prior to trial.

Bonaventure approved these visits so Rudin could help her attorney prepare for trial.

Amador has previously assured the judge that these visits were not used to conduct media interviews.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/May-09-Wed-2001/news/16055563.html