By Julie Manganis
Staff writer
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SALEM — A Salem man who was nearly stabbed to death outside a condominium complex in April has filed a civil lawsuit alleging he was "set up" by his former girlfriend and her mother.
Paul Goodwin, 40, named not only his alleged assailant, Michael Marino, but Marino's mother, Christine Brault, and grandmother, Jeannette Brault, in a lawsuit filed last week in Salem Superior Court.
Marino, 27, also of Salem, is already facing criminal charges of attempted murder and assault and battery stemming from the April 1 stabbing on First Street.
In a complaint filed Thursday, Goodwin and his lawyers are now seeking at least $50,000 in civil damages to compensate Goodwin for his injuries, which included a punctured and collapsed lung, and punctures to the liver, neck and arm.
Goodwin and Christine Brault had dated for about four years, until breaking up in June 2009. After that, Goodwin obtained a domestic restraining order against her, alleging abuse.
Despite the order, Christine Brault allegedly continued to contact Goodwin, and following an incident on March 29, a warrant was issued for her arrest.
After the breakup, the lawsuit alleges, Jeannette Brault wound up taking financial responsibility for her adult daughter, a burden that Goodwin suggests Jeannette Brault resented.
The lawsuit alleges that Marino, his mother and grandmother then decided to stage an altercation between Goodwin and Marino, then call the police in hopes of having Goodwin arrested.
On April 1, Christine Brault called Goodwin asking for him to move some remaining personal items from a storage unit because she was moving out. Goodwin, fearful of Marino, was allegedly told he would not be present. When he heard Christine Brault speaking with her son and telling him where she was, "I realized that this was a set up," he said in an affidavit.
"I immediately rose to leave and avoid any trouble, but suddenly Marino was in front of me," Goodwin said.
Goodwin, who was found without a pulse at the scene but was revived by emergency medical technicians, spent 10 days at Massachusetts General Hospital as a result of the attack.
Marino and the Braults have not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.
