Columnist Jeff German: Tabish’s ex could ax his defense

Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

Jurors in the Ted Binion murder retrial haven't heard anything about it yet, and they may never hear anything.

But word that Rick Tabish's former wife, Mary Jo Jackson, has provided prosecutors with blockbuster information that undermines his alibi has created the biggest buzz so far in the murder sequel.

This is the kind of sideshow we've come to expect from the most publicized criminal case of all time in Las Vegas.

It might explain the pale looks much of the day on the faces of Tabish and his co-defendant and former lover, Sandy Murphy.

Chief Deputy District Attorneys Christopher Lalli and Robert Daskas filed notice prior to the start of Monday's proceedings that they intend to call Jackson as a rebuttal witness if Tabish takes the witness stand, as promised, in his own defense.

Jackson divorced the Montana contractor in July 2000, two months after Tabish and Murphy were convicted of killing Binion at his posh Las Vegas home. She has since remarried and now is in court in Missoula trying to take away Tabish's parental rights to the couple's two children.

Defense lawyers are sure to argue that Jackson's testimony would violate the marital privilege, which prevents a husband and wife from disclosing their private conversations in court.

Though the privilege bars Lalli and Daskas from calling Jackson during their case in chief, they said they have case law that would allow Jackson to testify if Tabish isn't truthful on the witness stand.

If District Judge Joseph Bonaventure gives prosecutors the green light to call Jackson, it could have a dramatic impact on the defense strategy. During his opening statement, Tabish's attorney J. Tony Serra told the jurors unequivocally that Tabish would testify.

But Tabish might have second thoughts about doing that with his ex-wife waiting in the wings to shoot holes in his story.

For now, prosecutors are keeping what Jackson told them under wraps. District Attorney David Roger would only say Jackson can rebut Tabish's claim that he was at All Star Transit Mix in North Las Vegas on the morning of Sept. 17, 1998, when medical examiners theorize Binion died.

"She believes the jury should have the truth about Tabish's whereabouts at the time of Ted Binion's murder," Roger said.

This is big because prosecutors, who have little evidence placing Tabish at Binion's home on that day, plan to present evidence that Tabish tried to pay witnesses to vouch for his presence at All Star. Michael Milot, a friend and former Tabish employee, for the first time ever also is expected to testify on rebuttal that he never saw Tabish at the cement plant.

What Jackson offered prosecutors was important enough for Roger, who tried the first case four years ago, to fly to Missoula, Mont., last Thursday in the middle of the retrial and arrange for her to be questioned by Metro homicide detective James Buczek.

The interview was done Friday in the office of Jackson's Missoula attorney, John E. Smith, and a tape of the session was turned over to defense lawyers in the Binion case Monday morning.

It's a tape that will cause ears to ring at the courthouse, even if it doesn't find its way to the jurors.