Gainey changes story on witness stand in Jaume murder trial

Jason Gainey, who previously made a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony against Dominic Robinson, changed his story on the witness stand this afternoon.

Robinson, charged with first-degree murder in the 2001 shooting death of Mandeville mother Samantha Jaume, wept when Gainey told jurors he felt pressured by detectives when he made a taped statement saying he drove Robinson to the Northshore and followed Jaume to her home, where she was murdered in a botched robbery attempt.

In the taped statement made earlier by investigators, Gainey said he was in his truck waiting for Robinson, who had followed Jaume into her house, when he heard the gun go off.

“I went straight home,” he said.

Today, when Gainey took the stand as the prosecution’s key witness, prosecutor Scott Gardner asked if he took Robinson to the Northshore and to Jaume’s house.

“I did not,” Gainey said.

When Robinson heard that he began to weep, and the judge ordered the jury from the courtroom.

Before the jury came back into the courtroom Gardner asked if the state could legally move forward without Gainey’s lawyer present.

“Yes. The right of the defendant to have a fair trial, especially in a first-degree murder trial, is going to trump any disciplinary rule to proceed,” Judge Elaine DiMiceli said.

When the jury returned to the courtroom Gardner questioned Gainey a little more, played some more of the tape, then asked him once again if he had taken Robinson to the Northshore.

“I did not,” Gainey answered.

Gainey told defense attorney Dwight Doskey he felt pressured to tell the story.

“Each time I spoke with them (detectives) they told me more about what they thought had happened,” Gainey said.

Between newspaper articles and talks with detectives, “that’s how I got my story,” he said.

“Detective (Ralph) Sacks told me I messed up, that I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison, that’s why I made up the story,” he said.

The judge called a short break and returned just after 4:30 p.m.. Gainey remained on the stand.