Freedom Asked in Slaying Case

Lawyers for a businessman accused of orchestrating the 1988 ambush slayings of race car legend Mickey Thompson and his wife asked Monday that he be released from jail after an appeals court ruled there is not enough evidence to try him in Orange County.

Michael Goodwin’s attorneys said that because their client has already spent 28 months in Orange County Jail, the 4th District Court of Appeal should speed up his release by making its unofficial decision final as quickly as possible.

Generally, the court has 30 days to do it.

“People tell me one more month shouldn’t be that bad, considering how long I’ve been here,” Goodwin, 59, said Monday during a call from the jail in Santa Ana.

“But this is the hardest time, when I know I shouldn’t be here. It sickens me.”

In its preliminary opinion, the appellate court said Orange County prosecutors failed to establish that they have legal jurisdiction over the case. The killings took place in Bradbury, a foothill community in Los Angeles County.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James Mulgrew said his office opposes Goodwin’s release because officials have not yet decided if they will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Mulgrew said it is rare for defense lawyers to try to expedite a final opinion by the court. It’s even less common that such a fast-tracking process is appropriate, he said, except in extraordinary cases, such as the court rulings just before the state’s recall election, or cases in which both sides agree with the ruling.

“Not to minimize the fact that he’s incarcerated,” Mulgrew said, “but given the year and half the appeal court took to make this decision, that’s obviously not the situation here.”

A Superior Court judge cannot dismiss the murder and conspiracy charges against Goodwin until the appellate court opinion is made final and prosecutors determine whether they will appeal, an Orange County Superior Court spokeswoman said.

Thompson, 59, and his wife, Trudy, 41, were shot to death outside their home as they were leaving for work. The gunmen fled on bicycles and have never been caught.

But in December 2001, Orange County prosecutors charged Goodwin with plotting the crime, contending that they had jurisdiction because he had allegedly planned the killings and equipped the gunmen in Laguna Beach, where he lived and worked at the time.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has declined to prosecute Goodwin, citing insufficient evidence.

Friday’s appellate court decision left open the possibility of Los Angeles County taking up the case should new evidence develop.

A spokeswoman there declined to comment on that possibility until Orange County prosecutors decide if they will appeal.