Bid to Bar D.A. From Case Fails

A judge rejected requests Friday by Michael Goodwin’s lawyer to remove Orange County Dist. Atty. Anthony Rackauckas and his office from a grand jury investigation into the deaths of racing legend Mickey Thompson and his wife.

Goodwin, who investigators say is the prime suspect in the couple’s deaths 13 years ago, also failed to get a gag order on grand jury witnesses who were dropped or to have authorities return copies of legal papers that were seized in a search of his home in June.

Goodwin’s lawyer, Jeffrey Benice, said Rackauckas should recuse himself from the case because he represented members of the victims’ family in the late 1980s, before becoming district attorney. He and Goodwin argued that the search yielding the legal papers was conducted without a warrant. One was obtained afterward.

In denying the motions, Judge Richard Stanford of Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana said he could not order a prosecutor to recuse himself if his office had not yet filed charges. Goodwin was taken into custody last month to appear in a lineup but has not been charged in the killings. Goodwin, a former business partner of Thompson, denies that he was involved in the couple’s deaths and maintains that he is being framed.