David Gomez took the stand Monday afternoon, but in a blow to the defense, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right. (Court TV)

LAS VEGAS (Court TV) — Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish hoped that a jailhouse informant would expose an illegal conspiracy by prosecutors and win them a new trial.

But those plans fizzled Monday, as convict David Gomez remained tight-lipped on the stand. The only words he spoke were to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.

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

Gomez, an inmate assigned to Tabish's cellblock in Clark County Detention Center, told reporters and investigators that prosecutors strategically planted him there before the murder trial to steal incriminating evidence from Tabish's cell. If his assertions are true, defense attorneys argue, the purported tactic constitutes a Massiah violation.

But defense attorneys have yet to get Gomez to repeat those accusations in court. In fact, he spent only a few seconds on the stand Monday.

Gomez's lawyer, Michael Cristalli, tried to spare his client from any courtroom appearance at all Monday afternoon, asking Bonaventure to allow the attorney to invoke Gomez's Fifth Amendment right on his behalf.

But the judge agreed with defense attorneys, saying that the words "should be from his mouth."

Defense attorneys were hoping to quiz Gomez about prior claims that he took 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.

Gomez, a known "snitch" who has turned against fellow inmates for perks that included watching the Superbowl and getting access to pornographic magazines, previously alleged that lead prosecutor David Roger and jail officials met with him and cut a deal with him.

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.

At Monday's hearing, Roger said that he never met Gomez before and hasn't even been inside the jail house in more than three years.

In fact, Roger called Gomez's claims that he met with him on several occasions "slanderous," and that further claims that prosecutors promises that that he could "walk" was not only a lie, but a legal impossibility.

Roger tackled Gomez's character, charging that the life sentence he is serving — with no chance of parole for 91 years — gives him little incentive to tell the truth.

Roger painted a vivid portrait of an uncooperative inmate, who has doused corrections officers in urine, painted the walls of his cell with his own blood and attempted suicide on two occasions.

"He has a snitch jacket on him," Roger said. "Snitches don't do well in prison."

The prosecutor also pointed out that Gomez has a sentencing date next month for a perjury conviction. According to Roger, while Gomez was wanted for rape and robbery in California, he fled to Nevada and held up a bank. When caught, he gave authorities the name of a dead man with a clean record, leading a federal judge to give him a light sentence.

It wasn't until after he was already serving the 32-month term that the FBI discovered his fingerprints matched those of David Gomez, a member of the Mexican mafia with an extensive criminal record.

When he was resentenced to life in prison as a three-time felon, he was also charged with perjury for giving a false name under oath.

Defense lawyers didn't defend Gomez's character, but said that it doesn't mean that the violations didn't occur.

"It's easy to talk about what a scum Mr. Gomez is — and we don't dispute that," said attorney William Terry.

But Terry said that if what Gomez claimed is indeed true, then it means that Tabish's civil rights were violated.

The defense asked Judge Joseph Bonaventure to grant Gomez immunity to compel him to testify, but the judge refused.

Terry also attempted to have a statement Gomez allegedly provided to his investigator, Jim Thomas, submitted as evidence.

Roger, however, successfully argued that it would be unfair since he would not have any opportunity for cross-examination. Bonaventure denied Terry's motion.

In a pre-trial hearing in February, defense attorneys alleged that Massiah violations were so serious that all charges against both Tabish and Murphy should be dismissed. Bonaventure ruled that there was no evidence of any plot or that the so-called notes ever even existed.

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