09/18/2009 57 TRAVERSE Petition and Motion For Evidentiary Hearing by Joseph Mangiapane, Jr.
--------------
Doc 57 OCR extract
Attachment, page 23 - 24
LAW OFFICES OF JAMES D. HENDERSON
1919 Santa Monica Boulevard
Suite 210
Santa Monica, CA 90404-1970
Telephone; (310) 264-1898
Facsimile: (310) 315-1134
March 29, 2007
Beth Moscow-Schnoll
Assistant United States Attorney
United States Attorney's Office
P.O. Box 2046
Wilmington, DE 19899
Re: Matt Brown
Dear Beth:
As you know, the probable cause affidavit in support of the February 2007 search of Matt Brown's home in Aliso Viejo, California, was based on information from Justin Woods. Mr. Woods, you may recall, was the driver stopped in Texas while transporting some $150,000 in cash to Paul Dynkowski in Delaware. I have reviewed the search warrant affidavit (which is not under seal) and wanted to highlight a couple of items.
On March 21, 2007, I interviewed Justin Woods, showed him the affidavit, and asked for his comments. First, there is a paragraph in the affidavit which indicates:
Woods told Sgt. Luciano that the currency he was given to him (sic) by Matthew Brown is illegal money. However, he does not have any knowledge as to how the proceeds from said money were from. (sic.)
During my interview of Mr. Woods, he informed me that this was incorrect. He stated to me that what he recalls being asked was whether the money was illegal and responding "not to my knowledge." He also recalls being asked specifically if the cash was drug money and answering "no." Since this seems like a significant mistake in the affidavit, 1 wanted to bring it to your attention.
In addition to the above, contrary to the statement in the affidavit setting forth that Mr. Woods stated that Matt Brown had hired him for a driving job that Brown "said was for [Joey] Mangiapane Jr.," Justin Woods also says that this is incorrect. He informed me during the March 21st interview that he did say to the questioning officers he thought that Mr. Mangiapane was involved, but did not say the cash was being transported for Mr. Mangiapane.
Finally, one other interesting point surfaced during the interview which does not appear anywhere in the affidavit. According to Mr. Woods, he informed the officers who questioned him in Texas that he had gotten the cash from Matt Brown's grill prior to transporting it. Mr. Woods stated to me that this was not correct and that he had actually picked it up off a table in Matt Brown's house just prior to his departing for Delaware. Mr. Woods told me that he had not been truthful to the officers on this point and regretted his bad judgment. He explained that because he didn't know if the cash was illegal or not, he did not want to say he received it directly from Matt so he made up the story that it was from the grill.
In closing, I would like to thank you for your courtesy and professionalism during our recent meeting in your offices. Should you have any questions concerning the above or any other aspect of this matter, please feel free to contact me at your convenience at 310/264-1898.
Very truly yours,
James D. Henderson
