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Are Bad Cops Accountable?

Posted by: Justice On Trial

Apparently, no.

Current events provide a graphic reminder of society’s obligation and need to treat our citizens, all of them, fairly and equally under the law. A recent incident, drawn from the pages of the Los Angeles Times begs an answer to this question:

Are bad cops held as accountable as junior-high school students are when they break very same law?

Senior O.C. Asst. D.A. Michael Fell said about these three young girls:

“The girls are a danger to society”

The L.A. Times article reports the arrest of the girls for falsely accusing Eric Nordmark, a drifter, of molesting them, a crime they now admit he did not commit. He was imprisoned for 8 months, however, before one of the girls admitted she lied:

The commissioner in charge said, after the false statements came to light:

“You cannot tell when they may commit another crime.”

Officials did not cite previous criminal records, malicious intent or other reasons for making such a statement. Therefore, it would seem that officials made those accusations to keep two of the girls in custody until their trial. One of the girl’s mothers, Veronica Ochoa, is now under investigation by the District Attorney in Orange County for allegedly not quickly enough reporting to authorities that her daughter admitted to her that the girls had lied to falsely accused Nordmark.

The girls were charged with violating California Penal Code 182, Conspiracy to Use False Evidence to Convict a Citizen. Ironically, dozens of far more serious charges under the very same penal code have been alleged against a veteran Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office, (L.A.S.O.) homicide investigator, Detective Lillienfeld.

Sr. Asst. D.A. Fell made the statement about Ms. Ochoa, one of the girls’ mothers, for not calling as quickly as she could have:

“She let this guy sit in jail…. If we had known that Nordmark was possibly innocent, we would have done whatever we had to, the second we heard it, to put in motion whatever needed to be done to get him released.”

Fell went on to say, “No criminal charges are filed unless we are sure there is sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Respected Orange County lawyer, John D. Barnett, when asked about this case, confirmed that:

“The girls are being fairly treated considering a man was deprived of his freedom for 8 months…. Very serious consequences are called for.”

It is obvious the O.C.D.A. legitimately feels that a conspiracy to falsely convict someone is an extremely serious matter that deserves the immediate attention of law enforcement and the judicial system

It would seem, however, a clear line is drawn. Members of law enforcement are not ordinary citizens. The rules for them are drastically different. They can and do operate outside the law with impunity.

On January 24, 2004, Jeffery Benice, lead attorney in Orange County, Michael Goodwin prosecution, presented the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office, Internal Affairs Bureau, with a formal request that a complaint be filed against one of their Detectives, Mark Lillienfeld. Benice’s letter was accompanied by a list (letter and list available at www.JusticeOnTrial.org) of dozens of instances of perjury, witness tampering, evidence fabrication and destruction and other conspiratorial crimes as part of a conspiracy to falsely convict Michael Goodwin of the Mickey Thompson murders.

Following the refusal of L.A. District Attorney to prosecute this crime for lack of evidence, Lillienfeld met, personally, with the top O.C.D.A. official, Tony Rackauckas, long-time friend, business associate and former employee of the victim’s sister, Colleen Campbell. Subsequent to this unprecedented meeting of an L.A. detective and the highest ranking D.A. in Orange County regarding a case with no ties to Orange County, Lillienfeld “developed” venue-specific aspects about evidence that had been discarded early on in the investigation.

Lillienfeld would have the courts and public believe that dozens of previous investigators, over more than 13 years of investigation, “missed” this “evidence” which his superlative investigative skills enabled him to “discover,” yet, he was unable to decipher the most basic of ballistics reports. The last official report, which he signed, left no doubt that it was impossible for Goodwin’s gun to have been a murder weapon. Only weeks later, he swore to the courts that, “…Goodwin provided a murder weapon to the killers from his home in Laguna Beach.”

Although the prosecution has admitted some of the evidence they used to charge Goodwin was false, including Lillienfeld’s absurd claim of Goodwin providing a murder weapon, and the evidence proving Lillienfeld’s implementation of the conspiracy is compelling, there has been no confirmation of an investigation of these crimes by Internal Affairs. To date, Michael Goodwin has been in jail for 27 months based solely on this “new evidence” that Detective Lillienfeld “developed.”

As a result of this conspiracy to convict Goodwin, he and his attorney, Jeffrey Benice, have had to expend over $500,000 on Goodwin’s defense and it has put Goodwin’s 90-year old father out on the street when they lost their home.

Every allegation by Lillienfeld has been or can be proven as false with evidence that Lillienfeld and Sr. District Attorney David Brent initially withheld from the defense until Goodwin was formerly charged and “bound over” for trial. Any withholding of evidence is also illegal.

The defense has proof that Lillienfeld and Brent have lied, under oath, to judges and the Grand Jury over 100 times. Goodwin appealed to the courts to prevent the illegal, out of jurisdiction, prosecution. Admitting that there were obvious and serious flaws in D.A. Brent’s erroneous contention of venue, the court “stayed all proceedings.” Brent and Lillienfeld have been using this stay as an excuse to continue to withhold production of additional discovery to the defense to prevent further charges against them. Literally hundreds of witness statements and other evidence, referenced elsewhere in the discovery and requested by the defense, has never been produced. To make matters worse for Goodwin, because of this “stay of proceedings,” he has no court of jurisdiction to file Motions to Dismiss based on the defense evidence.

In another case reported on 2/12/04 also in the L.A. Times, Internal Affairs, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office immediately put Deputy Joe Martinez on administrative leave when witnesses reported to authorities that Martinez lied in a KABC-TV interview about his role in a rescue. An investigation has been launched and criminal charges may be filed. However, in Lillienfeld’s case, to date, evidently nothing has been done.

The difference? Goodwin’s defense team has evidence proving that, in this prosecution, O.C.D.A. Rackauckas is illegally prosecuting Goodwin with false evidence as a favor for Colleen Campbell. The County of Orange has no other interest in this case. She is a well-connected politician who, for 15 years, in spite of evidence to the contrary, has claimed that Goodwin is guilty and she has sworn to get him convicted, “no matter what.” Goodwin now has evidence to prove that it is only these misguided, unsupported claims by her that have galvanized government and law enforcement at the highest levels to arrest and attempt to convict Goodwin, fulfilling her prophecy. With the cooperation of Detective Lillienfeld, also a Campbell family friend, she may have succeeded were it not for Goodwin’s supporters.

Ms. Campbell is a nationally prominent “victims’ rights” advocate, known to many U.S Presidents. She spoke in support of top U.S. Cop, John Ashcrot’s confirmation. She created, as a result of Mickey Thompson’s death, and still administers, Memories Of Victims Everywhere, a lobbying group, purportedly one of the largest “victim’s rights” organizations in the country. She is now attempting to have the U.S. Constitution amended with a “Victims’ Bill of Rights.”

However, we have been unable to locate any crime “victims” who have been helped by M.O.V.E. Moreover, Goodwin’s defense now has a considerable body of evidence showing that this organization is a conduit of campaign contributions to politicians in Orange County and elsewhere. To date, we have found no reference to this organization anywhere in association with any other victims’ rights organization(s). There appears to be no mechanism by which crime victims can access this “help” that M.O.V.E. purportedly offers to them or advise M.O.V.E. of any rights violations.

Campbell’s son, Scott, was convicted of murdering a man, Aubery Wix, in a drug deal gone bad, making victims of Wix’s family. We hope to ask Campbell if M.O.V.E. has ever offered protection of the rights of the victims of Scott Campbell’s murders?

Innocent, accused people are the worst kind of victims, betrayed by the badly perverted judicial system. What will Ms. Campbell’s M.O.V.E. say about the victims in this case once the truth of her involvement in this outrageous conspiracy to convict an innocent man is fully exposed?

Goodwin asserts, “Campbell and political contributors like her, to further their own nefarious agendas, under cover of legitimate causes, have perverted the American justice system.”