Man Enters Plea After 6 Months in Jail

Rather than spend more time in jail, a 65-year-old Moorpark man--known for his long-winded, but sometimes humorous, criticism of city officials--pleaded no contest Friday to charges that he tried to run down a housing inspector with his truck.

After spending nearly six months in jail waiting for trial, Gerald Goldstein told Ventura County Superior Court Judge Steven Perren that he had grudgingly entered the plea.

“Since I have been informed that [if I win the case] I will still be subject to various types of harassment in addition to jail time, I have agreed to plead nolo contendere with great reluctance,” Goldstein told Perren on Friday.

Goldstein spent all morning Friday consulting with his attorney, Louis Samonsky, and two friends who are court mediators in the Los Angeles Superior Court system. By late Friday afternoon he was released from County Jail.

“Mr. Goldstein is a very deliberate, very bright man, and he wants to know everything, “ said Samonsky, explaining why it took so long for Goldstein to come to terms with the plea. “I wish all my clients were that careful.”

Goldstein has been a fixture at Moorpark City Council meetings for more than 10 years. He has lived on a 1.2-acre lot since moving to the city in the early 1980s.

Over the years, Goldstein has come into conflict with city housing inspectors for filling up his home with clutter and trash. Three years ago, city officials ordered the home he was living in razed because it was filled with trash and rotting food.

When the mobile home that replaced the first home became cluttered, Goldstein started sleeping in his pickup truck.

Last September Mario Riley, a Moorpark code enforcement officer, and two Ventura County sheriff’s deputies were sent to oversee the cleanup of the property. They were joined by a psychologist who was in charge of a trust fund set up more than a decade ago by Goldstein’s mother to care for her son.

While Riley was talking with deputies, Goldstein allegedly started his truck, revved the engine and sped at Riley, forcing him to jump out of the way.

Goldstein then spun his truck around and headed back at Riley a second time, according to police reports, but was stopped when the deputies drew their weapons. He was later charged for assault with a deadly weapon.

On Friday, Goldstein’s attorney and friends insisted that he was not trying to run anyone down and that his truck’s accelerator had become stuck. They also said that if the case had gone to trial, they felt Goldstein would have been found innocent.

But Riley had a different view. He said Thursday that he was worried about Goldstein’s release from jail and hoped that the court would assure that Goldstein would be kept away from him.

Haunted by what could have happened to him and worried about what could have happened to Goldstein if the deputies had fired their weapons, Riley claims that he suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Prosecutors said they agreed to work out a plea with Goldstein because even if he were convicted, he would have spent only another two months in jail because he has been in custody so long.

Under the plea agreement, Goldstein will be put on probation, and he will not be allowed to contact Riley, said Assistant Dist. Atty. Matt Kraut.

“If he had to spend the time in county [jail], when he got out we would be where we started,” Kraut said. “[With the plea], we have conditions of probation.”

Goldstein’s probation is also conditional on him keeping his property clean, and he may also have to seek counseling, Kraut said.

Goldstein is scheduled to be sentenced April 15, pending an evaluation by a probation officer.