It flew open and several armed deputies charged in, grabbing Goodwin and pointing guns at his brother, who was on the couch. The search took 15 hours.
Goodwin’s three-bedroom trailer was sordid: Dirty dishes were piled in the sink; trash, clothing, debris and miscellaneous papers littered the home; cockroaches and ants had free rein. One of the bedrooms had been turned into an office with floor-to-ceiling metal industrial shelving containing a sea of three-ring binders. In all, they contained about two million pages, Lillienfeld speculated. It looked as if Goodwin had been running an entire law office from the confines of Space 47 at 34202 Del Obispo St.
“We took about 500,000 pages and left behind the rest,” Lillienfeld said. “It took a long time to sort through all of that.”
The list of items Lillienfeld carted out read like something out of a sitcom. In the end, there would be 120 boxes. He described the items in a 20-page court document. Among the items seized:
Booklet titled
I Want You to Ignore Justice Department Crimes
(Vol. 1: False Arrest) (defendant’s writings on the “7 year vindictive prosecution of M. Goodwin 1986-1995”)
8-1-00 letter from M. Goodwin to Frank Goodwin re: repayment by Mike Goodwin to Frank Goodwin of $1,000,000
Box containing approximately 2,000 pages of misc. transcripts, motions and pleadings regarding the Goodwin bankruptcy, fraud and related cases
Misc. loose documents relating to the bankruptcy and subsequent legal actions taken by Goodwin against a variety of parties.
AA rehab center videotape
State of California campaign statements forms showing contributors to Tony Rackauckas’ 1998 campaign for DA
Three bound documents: “Collene Campbell Crimes” and “Convicted by the Media”
Misc. loose folders containing copies of the Goodwin screenplay “Bury Him”
Misc. catalogued pornography, indexed and alphabetized, including still photos and video
Three months later, Lillienfeld returned 114 of the boxes to Goodwin’s home and kept the rest for his burgeoning case.
During the search, Goodwin had been taken to a police station, where he sat in an antiseptic interview room that contained only a table, four chairs, a telephone and a small trashcan. Lillienfeld arrived at 6 PM to talk to him.
The adversaries greeted each other cordially. It was the first time they’d seen each other since Lillienfeld had showed up at Goodwin’s job site. They began with idle chitchat about the housing conditions at Orange County Jail and a lineup Goodwin had been forced to endure. To an outsider, the pair seemed almost friendly.
LILLIENFELD: I’m not very bright, as I told you before
.
GOODWIN: Umm-hmm. That’s a lie
.
LILLIENFELD: It’s true…Now, I know you and I had this discussion before, and I made this offer before, but this would be a great opportunity for you to say, ‘You know what kid? Go in this direction or go in that direction…’
GOODWIN: Well, the only thing that I would give you is stuff that would exonerate me and you won’t—please forgive me if I respectfully say—
LILLIENFELD: I know, you think I’ll twist that and manipulate it—
GOODWIN: Well…
LILLIENFELD:—cause I’m a bad man
.
GOODWIN: I didn’t say you were…
LILLIENFELD: Yeah!
GOODWIN: …a bad man. I say that I believe that witnesses have been threatened, intimidated and—
LILLIENFELD: You think I have this big grudge for you and for some reason, Mike…
GOODWIN: I know
.
LILLIENFELD: …I don’t quite get that
.
The pair continued to discuss their differences, with Lillienfeld repeatedly saying that he had no vested interest in the Thompson case, and Goodwin countering that Lillienfeld would stop at nothing to convict him.
GOODWIN: It’s unfortunate, because you are a very personable guy
.
LILLIENFELD: Well, thanks
.
GOODWIN: I’m not trying to defend myself. In fact, there’s things I’ve admitted to my attorney and said, “Boy, I wish I wouldn’t have done these
Goodwin’s three-bedroom trailer was sordid: Dirty dishes were piled in the sink; trash, clothing, debris and miscellaneous papers littered the home; cockroaches and ants had free rein. One of the bedrooms had been turned into an office with floor-to-ceiling metal industrial shelving containing a sea of three-ring binders. In all, they contained about two million pages, Lillienfeld speculated. It looked as if Goodwin had been running an entire law office from the confines of Space 47 at 34202 Del Obispo St.
“We took about 500,000 pages and left behind the rest,” Lillienfeld said. “It took a long time to sort through all of that.”
The list of items Lillienfeld carted out read like something out of a sitcom. In the end, there would be 120 boxes. He described the items in a 20-page court document. Among the items seized:
Booklet titled
I Want You to Ignore Justice Department Crimes
(Vol. 1: False Arrest) (defendant’s writings on the “7 year vindictive prosecution of M. Goodwin 1986-1995”)
8-1-00 letter from M. Goodwin to Frank Goodwin re: repayment by Mike Goodwin to Frank Goodwin of $1,000,000
Box containing approximately 2,000 pages of misc. transcripts, motions and pleadings regarding the Goodwin bankruptcy, fraud and related cases
Misc. loose documents relating to the bankruptcy and subsequent legal actions taken by Goodwin against a variety of parties.
AA rehab center videotape
State of California campaign statements forms showing contributors to Tony Rackauckas’ 1998 campaign for DA
Three bound documents: “Collene Campbell Crimes” and “Convicted by the Media”
Misc. loose folders containing copies of the Goodwin screenplay “Bury Him”
Misc. catalogued pornography, indexed and alphabetized, including still photos and video
Three months later, Lillienfeld returned 114 of the boxes to Goodwin’s home and kept the rest for his burgeoning case.
During the search, Goodwin had been taken to a police station, where he sat in an antiseptic interview room that contained only a table, four chairs, a telephone and a small trashcan. Lillienfeld arrived at 6 PM to talk to him.
The adversaries greeted each other cordially. It was the first time they’d seen each other since Lillienfeld had showed up at Goodwin’s job site. They began with idle chitchat about the housing conditions at Orange County Jail and a lineup Goodwin had been forced to endure. To an outsider, the pair seemed almost friendly.
LILLIENFELD: I’m not very bright, as I told you before
.
GOODWIN: Umm-hmm. That’s a lie
.
LILLIENFELD: It’s true…Now, I know you and I had this discussion before, and I made this offer before, but this would be a great opportunity for you to say, ‘You know what kid? Go in this direction or go in that direction…’
GOODWIN: Well, the only thing that I would give you is stuff that would exonerate me and you won’t—please forgive me if I respectfully say—
LILLIENFELD: I know, you think I’ll twist that and manipulate it—
GOODWIN: Well…
LILLIENFELD:—cause I’m a bad man
.
GOODWIN: I didn’t say you were…
LILLIENFELD: Yeah!
GOODWIN: …a bad man. I say that I believe that witnesses have been threatened, intimidated and—
LILLIENFELD: You think I have this big grudge for you and for some reason, Mike…
GOODWIN: I know
.
LILLIENFELD: …I don’t quite get that
.
The pair continued to discuss their differences, with Lillienfeld repeatedly saying that he had no vested interest in the Thompson case, and Goodwin countering that Lillienfeld would stop at nothing to convict him.
GOODWIN: It’s unfortunate, because you are a very personable guy
.
LILLIENFELD: Well, thanks
.
GOODWIN: I’m not trying to defend myself. In fact, there’s things I’ve admitted to my attorney and said, “Boy, I wish I wouldn’t have done these
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