Convicted killers Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish will be back in court Friday as they pursue a new trial. (Court TV)

LAS VEGAS (Court TV) — The case that captivated this city for nearly two years with sex, drugs and greed returns to the spotlight Friday, when the lovers convicted of murdering Las Vegas casino mogul Ted Binion return to court in a bid to win a new trial and save themselves from a life in prison.

Ted Binion

Binion's live-in girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, and her lover, Rick Tabish, were convicted in May of murdering Binion, 55, a former casino executive worth $55 million, in a plot to steal his fortune and spring Murphy from a destructive relationship.

Read judge's order for evidentiary hearing

The pair filed separate motions seeking a new trial this summer. Citing reasons ranging from inappropriate jury actions by to alleged mob plans to kill Binion, defense attorneys charge that the first trial was unfair.

Judge Joseph Bonaventure, who presided over the trial, granted the defense an evidentiary hearing, which promises to be a dramatic and controversial legal bout set to begin Friday. The three-day proceeding is expected to include arguments and testimony about a sketchy jailhouse informant and a link between a defense attorney and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Day One: From the Jury Box to the Witness Stand

As the three-day hearing kicks off on Friday, all but one of the 12-member jury that convicted Murphy, 28, and Tabish, 35, are set to take the stand to answer allegations of misconduct.

According to Tabish's motion for a new trial, Juror Ten, Joan Sanders, reported that jury foreman Arthur Spear, Jr. handed out materials to jurors that were not part of the trial.

Read juror profiles and affidavits

Sanders, a long-time Las Vegas resident, claims Spear distributed to the panel a timeline of events he authored at home. In that timeline, the motion states, the phrase "depraved indifference" is used to describe a scenario in which Murphy and Tabish did not force Binion to overdose, but did nothing about it. By doing so, the foreman may have offered a legal perspective not permitted by the court.

Judge Joseph Bonaventure

The motion also alleges that Spear engaged in an inappropriate conversation with the bailiff on the third day of deliberations. The morning after the alleged conversation, Spear told the rest of the panel that the bailiff had stopped to tell him that the judge wanted to know how the jury was doing in their deliberations, Tabish attorney William Terry wrote in his motion. Several jurors, including Spear, support this claim in affidavits filed with the court. The bailiff, Henry Pyla, does not address the issue in his affidavit.

The day after the alleged conversation with Pyla, Bonaventure received a letter prepared by Spear, espousing the unity of jury and its commitment to deliberations.

But juror Sanders — the so-called whistleblower — has come under fire, allegedly telling fellow jurors that family members had worked for Binion's casino — something she failed to disclose on her questionnaire during jury selection.

Prosecutor David Wall (Court TV)

Sanders is the only juror who did not provide an affidavit to prosecutor David Wall. According to Wall, Sanders did not return his calls.

After rendering their verdict, some jurors have been open with the public about what went on in the deliberation room, participating in chat rooms and message boards on the Internet. A computer user the defense believes was Juror Six, Chris Sowell, was an active participant on Court TV's message boards.

Carol Simon, Juror Two, who is unable to testify at Friday's hearing because of vacation plans, will either testify or give a deposition at a later date.

Day Two: Singing jailbird part of a prosecution conspiracy?

A key witness who may appear on Monday is an inmate who claimed to have obtained some of Tabish's notes and miscellaneous documents and then turned them over to authorities.

Tom Loveday (Court TV)

David Gomez, a known jailhouse snitch who was placed in Tabish's cellblock in Clark County Detention Center before Tabish's trial, told investigators he had a handwritten note from Tabish's cell indicating a willingness to kill prosecution witness Tom Loveday, Binion's gardner, for $200,000.

Investigators later determined that the handwriting on the note did not match Tabish's.

Defense attorneys claim that Gomez was planted by prosecutors to gather incriminating evidence against an unwitting Tabish. If that's true, defense attorneys argue, the tactic constitutes a Massiah violation.

Prosecutor David Roger

Lead prosecutor David Roger maintained that Gomez has nothing to do with the investigation and any so-called documents he retrieved was an independent undertaking.

What is a Massiah violation? The violation was named for the Supreme Court precedent involving a merchant marine, Winston Massiah, who was indicted along with a co-defendant for drug possession aboard a ship. Massiah had already pled not guilty, made bail and retained an attorney — invoking his Sixth Amendment right — when his co-defendant cut a deal with prosecutors. As part of the plan, Massiah was led into an incriminating conversation which was being transmitted by radio to authorities, producing evidence which later led to a guilty verdict. His conviction was later reversed by the Supreme Court, which ruled that incriminating statements elicited without an attorney present was a violation of his Sixth Amendment rights, and that those statements could not be used at trial.

Gomez, a reputed member of the Mexican Mafia once convicted for perjury, did not take the stand during the trial. He was scheduled to testify in a pre-trial hearing, but once on the stand, asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned by attorneys.

Defense attorneys suggested that the alleged violation, upheld by Massiah v. United States, was so serious that all charges against both Tabish and Murphy should be dismissed.

Prosecutors, however, maintained that there was never a plot to have Gomez take notes from Tabish's cell or even to move Gomez near Tabish.

After two days of testimony during which Gomez remained tight-lipped, Bonaventure shot down the attempt by the defense. He sided with prosecutors, agreeing that that there was no evidence of any plot or that the so-called notes ever even existed.

In granting them a second hearing on the Gomez matter, Bonaventure stipulated that Monday's proceeding will be limited to new witnesses or testimony not presented during the pre-trial hearing.

Day Three: The mob and the mayor

Louis Palazzo (Court TV)

The attorney at Tabish's side during the trial, Louis Palazzo,could be called to the stand on Tuesday.

Tabish alleges his former attorney's loyalties were split between his client and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who served as Murphy's counsel before taking office.

Attorneys are expected to argue that Murphy gave Goodman bags containing silver coins that Tabish was later accused of stealing. The evidence, which could have helped Tabish, the motion maintains, was not presented at trial in an effort to protect Goodman.

The motion explains that Murphy removed a box of silver coins from Binion's home the day after he died and entrusted it to her attorneys. The silver was temporarily stored in the law office safe. Terry stressed that Goodman committed no improper acts, because at the time a court had ruled that Murphy was the rightful owner of Binion's house and all its contents.

In this way, Palazzo is alleged to have seen the need to protect his colleagues from suggestions of impropriety regarding the silver. The issue relates to allegations that Tabish later used "stolen" silver as collateral on a loan from his brother-in-law.

Had Palazzo called the respected lawyer and mayor to the stand to show the silver was not considered stolen at the time, Tabish might have fared better in the eyes of the jurors, Terry wrote.

Prosecutors have asked Bonaventure to waive the privilege and allow him to testify. The defense has urged Bonaventure not to waive the privilege, but to allow Palazzo to testify on a limited basis.

"Only Mr. Palazzo can testify as to why no evidence of ... the removal of the silver was adduced at the time of trial as it pertains to the 18th day of September, 1998," Tabish's motion states.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman (AP Photo)

Palazzo's prospective testimony is sure to be a hearing highlight, perhaps only to be eclipsed by possible testimony from Goodman himself whose name is also on the defense's witness list.

Before winning the mayoral election in November, Goodman was already known as a high-profile defense attorney whose clients included reputed notorious criminals as mob money man Meyer Lansky and Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro, the inspiration for a character in the movie "Casino."

Spilotro was one of two men in control of the gambling town for more than a decade. He was buried alive 14 years ago in Indiana. Spilotro's partner, Herbie Blitzstein, was killed by rivals in January 1997.

The mob-hit of Blitzstein — a friend of Binion's — also figures prominently into the defense attorneys' arguments for a new trial.

The triggerman who killed Blitzstein told the FBI that the mob once plotted to murder Binion.

According to court papers filed by Murphy's attorneys, Antone Davi, a reputed mobster, told federal agents that he and cohort Alfred Mauriello planned Binion's death by making him ingest a lethal hit of heroin. Earlier, Davi and Mauriello both pleaded guilty for plotting Blitzstein's murder.

Davi's statement, contained in an FBI report, was not disclosed to the defense until after the duo was convicted, Murphy's attorneys maintain.

High stakes

Bonaventure is expected to rule on August 17, well in advance of Murphy and Tabish's September 8 sentencing date.

While he will issue rulings regarding potential juror misconduct and possible Massiah violations, he stated in the motion granting the evidentiary hearing that he will not rule on ineffective assistance of counsel "absent a compelling reason." Bonaventure is allowing Tuesday's testimony for purposes of putting it on record for possible future review at the appellate level.

If Murphy and Tabish fail in their bid for a new trial, Bonaventure will hand them a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole in 20 years, a term determined by the jury.