Silence by witness leads to jail

Prosecutors sometimes go to great lengths and expense to compel a witness to testify in a murder trial.

In the case of Jamil Sahle, along with his subpoena, they bought him a round-trip ticket from Oakland, Calif., to Boston, put him up in a hotel, and granted him immunity from an accessory-to-murder charge. In exchange, they expected him to tell a Suffolk Superior Court jury that a childhood friend had showed up at his California apartment four years ago and confessed to killing a man in Dorchester.

But when Sahle took the stand Monday to testify against John Gomes, 30, he refused to speak, not because he feared retribution, but because he did not want to betray an old friend, prosecutors said.

Even though a jury convicted Gomes of murder Wednesday, prosecutors were not finished with Sahle. In a highly unusual move, they asked a judge yesterday to hold Sahle on criminal charges of contempt.

In a city where law enforcement officials struggle to find witnesses to killings and shootings, prosecutors said they wanted to send a message and sought a year in jail. Letting Sahle go, they contended, would have a chilling effect on witness cooperation in future homicide cases.

"It's an affront not only to the justice system, but to the community at large," Assistant District Attorney Patrick Haggan said in court. Not putting Sahle behind bars for a significant amount of time, would suggest that "you can refuse to testify, and all you'll receive is a few days in jail," he said.

Superior Court Judge Charles Spurlock agreed and sentenced Sahle, a labor compliance officer for a private firm who has no criminal record, to 90 days in Suffolk County House of Correction.

"It's important people know that when they're subpoenaed to testify and are granted immunity, that they have to obey the court's orders," he said.

Some legal specialists said District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's office had no choice but to pursue the criminal charges. It is rare for a witness who has been granted immunity to refrain from testifying. And while prosecutors have the power to ask that a witness be held in criminal contempt, they seldom use it because most witnesses choose to testify rather than serve time in jail.

"If [Conley] didn't take this particular action, everyone in the future would say, 'I'm not going to testify,' " said retired Superior Court Judge Robert A. Barton. "They have to send a message."

But others said the move highlights the unfair advantage prosecutors have to coerce information from reluctant witnesses.

"It's an example of the government using their power to pressure people to testify," said James Sultan, a Boston defense lawyer. "I run into witnesses all the time who I'd love to put on the stand, but I can't do anything. I can't subpoena them. I can't prosecute them. I can't send them to jail."

Sahle's attorney - John P. Moss, a Cambridge defense lawyer - said that he plans to appeal the sentence and that Sahle had no role in the crime.

"He's not a gang banger," Moss said. "He hasn't lived in Boston for 15 years. If we're going to send a message to anybody, is this the guy to make an example of? Do we want to spend House of Correction resources on him?"

The case stems from a case of mistaken identity on a Dorchester street five years ago.

Ildobrando Correia, a 45-year-old father of two, had just dropped off an elderly co-worker on Ridgewood Street around 9 p.m. Aug. 13, 2002. Gomes approached Correia's Honda Accord, thinking Correia was a rival gang member, and fired 18 rounds.

Gomes fled the state and eventually arrived in Oakland, where he stayed with Sahle in late 2002, prosecutors said.

Police tracked Gomes down in Florida in 2003. They subpoenaed Sahle to testify against his friend and, earlier this month, signed an immunity order protecting him from charges for any crimes he might admit to while on the stand.

Sahle was expected to testify that Gomes told him he "shot the wrong guy," prosecutors said.

But Sunday night, on the eve of his testimony, he told police and prosecutors he would not testify.

Yesterday, Sahle was sentenced around 9 a.m. Shortly afterward, Gomes was brought into the same courtroom, by then packed with relatives and friends of the victim and the defendant.

Gomes listened as Correia's widow, Maria DePina, told the court that her family was still devastated by her husband's murder. DePina was pregnant when Gomes killed Correia, a soccer coach who worked two maintenance jobs to support his family. DePina named their son, now about 5, after Correia.

"Some nights, I have dreams that he left and I'm still waiting for him to come back," she said, crying. "The worst part of all this is that his son, Ildo, will never get to know his own father."

Gomes, who with his graying hair looked much older than 30, did not speak. His mouth had been wired shut after his jaw was broken last month during a fight at House of Correction, while he was awaiting his trial, said his lawyer, Russell Sobelman. He read aloud a statement Gomes made to DePina.

"He feels sorry for you. He feels sorry for your family," Sobelman said. "He believes they convicted an innocent man."

Sobelman has appealed the conviction.

Gomes was sentenced to life in prison without parole. As he was led out of the courtroom, he blew kisses to his mother, who stretched her arm toward him and sobbed.

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.