Los Angeles, California (CNN ) -- When former in-house defense attorney Dimitrios Biller resigned from his top post at Toyota, he walked out with something potentially more valuable than his nearly $4 million severance package.

He took some 6,000 internal documents, including memos and e-mails potentially damaging to his former employer.

"Not potentially, they are. They are very damaging," Biller said.

Biller, now entangled in litigation with the auto giant, defended the company in product liability and negligence cases from 2003 to 2007. He says he quit because of what he alleges were "criminal acts" by Toyota -- specifically, withholding information the company was legally required to turn over to plaintiffs lawyers during litigation.

"There is a regular pattern and practice of not producing memos, minutes, reports, and e-mails," Biller said. "These documents can be used to establish liability against Toyota in product liability and negligence cases."

The documents -- some of which were reviewed by CNN -- were sent by Biller to Toyota officials. There are numerous references to so-called "Books of Knowledge," highly confidential information on design, safety systems and testing records allegedly generated by Toyota engineers on everything from roll-overs and roof safety to sudden unintended acceleration.

The chairman of a U.S. House committee investigating Toyota seems to agree with Biller, saying Toyota engaged in a "systematic disregard for the law and routine violation of court discovery orders in litigation."

Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-New York, whose committee subpoenaed Billers documents, said "The material, I must admit, is very, very disturbing."

Toyota defends its actions, saying, "We are confident that we have acted appropriately with respect to all product liability litigation."

Yet so far, the company has fought to keep the documents confidential and away from court cases -- like Pennie Greens. The Texas native was 17 and driving to see a movie with her cousin when her life instantly changed.

"I didnt make it," she said.

A car turned in front of Green and, with no time to react, her 1997 Camry swerved, rolled over and landed upside down. "When I opened my eyes, my nose felt like it was almost touching my belly button I was so curled up."

Green never walked again. In 2005 she filed suit against Toyota, claiming the roof was defective because it didnt withstand the weight of the car like it should have.

Biller defended Toyota in that rollover case, brought by Greens lawyer, Jeff Embry.

"We certainly requested everything that had any relevance to our case at all and, in fact, we had to go to the court to have Toyota ordered to provide their information," said Embry, who added Toyota provided just enough information to show Toyota vehicles "met the minimum standards."

Greens case settled in 2006 for $1.5 million.

Included in Billers documents is an e-mail he said he sent to his bosses summarizing negotiations. It says, "TMS [Toyota Motor Sales USA] concluded that it would be better to pay a premium to settle this case and avoid producing the Books of Knowledge."

Embry said he had no idea how close hed come to uncovering Toyotas alleged secrets. "I think they were very careful to keep design information, very important information in Japan, out of reach of our system as much as possible," he said.

Although Toyota calls the materials "trade secrets," Embry said, "That doesnt mean that you get to keep them a secret from the court system."

So why, if Biller knew a judge had ordered all information produced, didnt he produce it? He said he tried but was stopped by a superior who told him, "You have to protect the client at all costs."

"Even if that includes," Biller asked, "committing criminal acts or violating the law?"

The answer, Biller said, was yes.

Did he break the law? "No, I did as much as I could as a lawyer for a client to not break the law," he said. "I wrote e-mail after e-mail, memo after memo, explaining the legal obligations Toyota and its affiliates needed to fulfill."

In response to Billers documents and his allegations, Toyota spokeswoman Cindy Knight released this statement: "Mr. Biller continues to make inaccurate and misleading allegations about Toyotas conduct that we strongly dispute and will continue to fight against vigorously."

(CNN) -- A background check conducted in 2009 on an Ohio State University employee suspected of opening fire Tuesday on his co-workers turned up no criminal record, even though he apparently served five years in prison.

The background check, released by the university Wednesday, was performed by third-party vendor OPENonline in September 2009 after shooting suspect Nathaniel Brown applied for a job as a janitor in the schools Facilities Operations & Development Department.

Under the criminal records section, the check shows "No records found" nationally or locally. A check by CNN on Wednesday by a different vendor also revealed no criminal past. However, according to The Columbus-Dispatch, records show Brown spent five years in prison between 1979 and 1984 for receiving stolen property.

Police say Brown, 50, was apparently angry over a poor performance evaluation when he entered a university maintenance building early Tuesday and opened fire, killing a manager before turning the gun on himself and ending his own life. Another employee, Henry Butler, was wounded in the shooting. His injuries werent life-threatening, and he has since been released from the hospital.

Ohio State President Gordon Gee expressed condolences Wednesday to the family of victim Larry Wallington, calling his death "a significant loss."

"We cant replace him, but we certainly can learn from what has happened here," Gee said at a news conference.