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Subscribe to RSSTestimony is now under way at the DUI manslaughter trial of Florida millionaire John Goodman. The case received nationwide attention after the defendant adopted his adult girlfriend to protect his assets. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A jury on Friday found John Goodman, a South Florida polo mogul, guilty of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the Feb. 12, 2010 crash that killed Scott Wilson.
Police say a drunken Goodman, the founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach, rammed his black Bentley convertible into Wilson's car two years ago, causing it to roll into a canal. Goodman is accused of leaving the scene and waiting nearly an hour to call 911 as Wilson died.
Goodman was later found to have a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.
Prosecutors argued Goodman likely had 16 to 18 drinks before he got behind the wheel, and said Goodman walked away from the crash scene and called his girlfriend and a friend before finally calling 911, WPTV reported.
Read more about this case on NBCMiami.com
Goodman's attorney, Roy Black, said his client only a had a few drinks that night. He claimed the Bentley malfunctioned and accelerated into the intersection. Black also said Goodman drank after the crash to ease his pain.
The case made headlines after Goodman legally adopted his girlfriend, in what was seen as a legal manuever to protect some of his wealth from a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Wilson's family. Goodman settled with the Wilson family for an unspecified amount earlier this month, shortly before the criminal trial began, according to WPTV.
Goodman is facing up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 30.
Read more about his case on WPTV.com
After nearly two weeks of testimony, the prosecution and defense made their closing arguments on Thursday before turning the case over to the six jurors late in the day.
They deliberated for about a half hour before deciding end their deliberations and resume Friday morning.
"The jury in the Goodman case exercised sound judgment in its analysis of the factual and expert evidence in this trial" said State Attorney Peter Antonacci in a statement after the verdict. "Scott Wilson was a young man with a bright future and his life was tragically cut short. I hope that Scott's family now experiences some closure so that the healing process can go forward in this particularly tragic event."
Scott Wilson's mother thanked the jury after the verdict.
"I know that it took a lot for them to come up with a conclusion and justice has been served," Lily Wilson said. "I'm always gonna miss my son."
Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from NBCMiami.com.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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Nice to see that somebody in Florida, who lost their life senselessly at the hands of another, was at least in death afforded legal justice.
I hope the drunk get all 30 years in prison..and his so call GF/or daughter spends every penny he has and dumps his azz!
Wow! A small smidgen of justice in a world which seems to have forgotten the whole concept of justice.
He won't do any time. Have any of you seen or witnessed wealthy one percenters doing any time in the past 50 years? Madeoff only did time because he did not have any money to begin with. He swindled his way to wealth whereas names like Gates, M. Jackson, and others never do any time along with politicians. Wake up people only the 99% club go to prison for crimes they committed and sometimes for crimes they did not commit. Don't be hopeful sheep and face cold hard facts.
At least when he's "adopted" by a fellow prisoner in the years to come, he'll have a better understanding.
Intellect I hear you but this guy will do time (30yrs no way) his time will be served in a minimum security facility with plenty of perks.
This is bull, It was self-defense just like the other guy! What's wrong with this justice system.
oh it's just sarcasm
Man, there are a lot of experts on Florida's prison system on this site. I suggest each of you visit a prison in FL and then see if you still have the same opinions. I suggest not.
@Intellect: Are you implying that Gates is a criminal?
"didn't do it. Lawyer f#$*@% me"
Yes! Toss the slug in jail and let the inmates have a ceremonial pouring of the salt!
Whats money going to do for you now A-Hole????? So many wealthy people believe they are above and beyond the law that money will get them off the hook! GUILTY as charged!!! I love it!
He won't do anywhere near 30 yrs and he will have it served at a minimum security facility which he should be at anyway. His crimes although deadly and horrific was not a 'violent' act in the way a murder or assault is. he deserves jail-time but not with hardened criminals....he wouldn't survive a week in GP in a real prison unless like Don King did when Tyson was in jail....paid the leaders of the Black Gorilla prison gang so they would protect his 'asset' while he served his time. this guy is worth a lot maybe he could do the same thing...buy protection
It's a lot tougher to get a conviction on a wealthy p%^&k--good job prosecutors! I imagine that he'll be the horse that is ridden in prison.
finally, for once, wealth didn't matter in the sentencing of a truly guilty "mogul". Typically, in this country, it seems there are two systems of justice. One for the wealthy where it often looks as though money can buy you your freedom, and another for those of us who are just average working stiffs. Despite his ability to buy a fancy lawyer, Goodman got what he deserved. Now, let's see what the sentence is. Hopefully, it's the full 30 years allowed. We shall see.
I totally agree with your post, and I'll go further. I have watched, over the years, the wealthy entering "rehab clinics" and hospitals to avoid serving time in prison. More than a racial profile of inmates in US prisons, there's an income and education gap. The recent articles that were published found that wealthy "cheat" and "Steal" more than any demographic group. They just don't have to pay for their crimes.
When it comes to white collar crime, especially when it comes to the banksters, wallstreet, perpetrators of environmental disasters and war, the government just changes the law so it doesn't fit the crime any longer.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but while he was found guilty he has not been sentenced yet. I believe this is where once again being rich will rule and he will get a light slap of the wrist. I am quite interested to see if this man will actually face his punishment. This man does not deserve to serve his sentence in a country club prison, he should be imprisoned like any other murderer and the idiot that stated he shouldn't be put in prison with other murderers is an idiot. He murdered his victim is dead.......not voilent Have you ever been in a car wreck that is quite voilent. Shut ur piehole and let this murderer die in prison.
Will the sentence match his worth!
Now they need to charge him with rape/incest for having sex with his "adopted daughter".
Good decision.
Wow, a jury in Florida that found someone guilty
Even more amazing.... was charged with a crime and tried in a court of law at all.
I agree with you Dave. A guilty verdict in Florida. The must have flown in some jurors from Texas. Florida residents and jurors never get it right.
Happens every day. But I know what you meant, "Wow, a jury in Florida that found a super rich person guilty." Now the real problem with the judge comes in what Community Service work will be required for Goodman.
All that money Goodman spent on legal fees, and Roy Black isn't cheap, he had the wrong defense. Goodman should have claimed "Self Defense," he had no choice because he was threatened.
Amazing indeed
Even a broken clock is correct twice a day.
Dick, I was thinking the same thing! It was self defense because poor Scott Wilson was in his way (MAY SCOTT REST IN PEACE) as he was speeding towards home. He expected a clear road ahead of him.
You should see Hawaii's judicial system !!! if and when a jury does find a criminal guilty our judges lets' them go with a slap on the wrist only to have them go back out into the community to commit more crime. It's like a revolving door. I am glad the jury in this case gave this young man's family some sense of justice.
Oh THANK GOD! This man lied SO bad on the stand, it was ridiculous. There is STILL justice in South Florida. Doesn't happen very often around here but it did happen this time. This man is rich enough, he should have had a driver. I am SO sorry for the family of the kid that was killed.
I had the misfortune of meeting this d-bag, during a charity event at my ex-girlfriend's job. He showed up drunk, drank half a bottle of the Tall Blonde Vodka being given out as a promo, and eventually shuffled off to his car, barely able to stand, and drove off.
Fry his @$$
So you knowingly allowed this man to get in his car and drive drunk? I'm not defending him by any stretch of the imagination, but it sounds like he's been enabled. Lucky no one died that night, too. People like you are almost as responsible for allowing drunks to get behind the wheel.
People like you, people like you....
Hmmm, what kind of "people" do you assume chipferd to be Fourmalts?
chipferd - and why didn't you do anything to stop a visibly intoxicated person, "barely able to stand" to drive off?
Oh right! Grab his keys and hold him down. His body guard kicks the crap out of you and he sues you for assault. Sorry fourmalts, blame the judicial system on that one, too.
At the most he will get house arrest for a year and pay a large fine along with restitution to the family. Look at Patty Hearst she got zero time and she was a member of the SLA. Ney did just a short stint and Abramoff did nothing like he should have done. The real criminals got re-elected and went on with their lives like nothing happened in the Abramoff scandal. Leona was given house arrest and she was caught dead to rights so with just this short narrative I would bet he gets house arrest on his estate and monetary penalties along with a suspended license. Remember he resides in Florida.
That's the reason Mitt doesn't drive anymore. He's rich enough to have a driver take the blame if something goes wrong like a car that malfunctioned and accelerated into the intersection. I know, it happens all the time to me, lucky no accidents yet
Or the D'bag could shoot/ run over chipferd and claim self defense and everything would be fine and the police won't arrest him.
Several of my Bentleys have had similar problems with accelerating into an intersection, especially after I've had 16 to 18 drinks. An investigation may be warranted into this mechanical malfunction. Meanwhile, has anyone seen my girlfriend, I mean daughter?
@Yourkidding
Give it a phucking rest already would you...it's 'people' like you who stir up all this racism bullsh!t....what Fourmalts meant....as anyone with half a brain would know (unlike yourself who has no brain) or figure out by saying "People like you are almost as responsible for allowing drunks to get behind the wheel."
He means that 'people who stand idly by' - 'people like you'.... are almost as much responsible as the idiot driving away drunk...by not reporting it to cops or someone else in authority...get a grip and get a brain.
Racism, What Racism? I dont see any RACISM here until U brought it up! go back to sleep!!!
I was out getting drunk with some buddies of mine. One of my friends, who had ridden his motorcyle to the bar, was WAY too drunk to ride home, so we took his keys from him. We had arranged rides home for everyone, including him.
An argument ensued in the parking lot, during which a local cop drove by. He managed to convince the cop he was sober enough, and we were forced to give his keys back to him by the cop. He threatened to arrest US if we didn't.
Ten minutes later, he was dead. He ran his motorcycle head-on into an oncoming truck at 70mph trying to prove to us how sober he was.
It was one week after his 21st birthday.
Fourmalts is right. Chipfers should've taken Goodman's keys and tossed 'em. That boy he killed would still be alive today if he had. I'd gladly suffer a lawsuit, jail time or an ass-kicking if it saved someone else's life.
I'll answer the asinine question posted at #3.3.
The kind of chicken-sh!t "it's not my problem, I'm not getting involved" person who just stands idly by and watches a crime being committed. It's not like Goodman was an armed gang member running out of a liquor store after shooting the clerk, fer cryin' out loud! He was a falling-down drunk!
THAT'S what kind of person Fourmalts is talking about.
At the very least, he should have called the cops with Goodman's license plate number and the direction he was heading. This guy was an accident just waiting to happen. It's too bad some poor kid had to lose his life for anyone to do something about it.
@Fourmalts...have you followed this case or are you just showing your ignorance? A young man, age 23 did die as a result of John Goodman's actions. Goodman was found guilty because he consumed alcohol before getting into his car (the amount was a major point of dispute) left the scene of the accident and lied about his actions, his car and waited nearly one hour before calling 911. if you must comment, PLEASE,PLEASE know what you are talking about!
Don't count on it...he's rich.
There was someone from another rich family (started with a K or something) who let a girl drown after crashing into a canal and he ended up as a congressman for a whole lot of years after he did. If memory serves...he didn't spend any time in jail either.
If Teddy Kennedy had been driving a Volkswagen, he'd have been elected president.
About five or six years ago (or seven - memory isn't what it was), a drunk congressman ran a stop sign and killed someone. Found guilty. Sentence? Time served. Literally got away with murder. Money and connections go a long way.
Joe - More recently there was another odd case in Palm Beach that involved the same K family. More novel, perhaps, this was the case that made Polo man's lawyer, Roy Black, a recognizable face in Florida. Maybe because he managed to get K freed, but I think what really brought him fame and made him stand out had to do with picking up a juror while working the courtroom . . . BTW if you're among the 4 people that watched Miami's Housewives on Bravo, you may remember her screeching, yet philanthropic, voice.
The point is I wonder if he's ready to exchange her (current wife) for another juror this time?
Polo man + Florida politics = very mysterious decisions. Just don't let FL keep anything under wraps (as in Sanford case).
hope this piece of crap gets the full 30 years...drank after the wreck to ease his pain,lawyer should do time for thinking someone would believe that @!$%#.
That was the best the lawyer could do. I actually heard a lawyer tell someone who already had 3 DUI's that the only chance he had of getting him off again was if he kept a pint of whiskey behind the seat. If he was ever stopped again, the lawyer advised him to get out of the car and drink the pint in full view of the cops.
Sure. That would work for zero seconds, as the police then arrest him for tampering.
I liked the part where he found it in a barn.
Even if he wasn't drunk (let's play pretend for a moment), he still left the scene of a crime and didn't call for help...which caused this man to die. I am in 100% agreement. He should be locked away for the max amount of time allowed.
Derek.....I personally knew a guy in NY that did exactly what denver bill said he heard a lawyer tell someone. The guy I knew was involved in a fatal accident that killed a woman. He was driving a large pick-up truck with tool boxes. There were witnesses to the accident present immediately at the crash. He was already drunk, but reached into the tool box and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and downed as much as he could...more than 1/2 of it. The cops that showed up belonged the same lodge and managed to use up as much time as possible before any blood test was done. The woman died, the guy pretty much walked away scot free and the guy actually had the nerve to brag about his 'smarts' afterwards. It made me look at things in a way I had never done before!!
Impossible right? Well.....guess what!! I also knew another guy that did exactly the same thing about 15 years later, except it was a man he killed. He also walked away with only very minor punishment.....some small fine and some points on his license. He also was fond of telling everyone how smart he was in beating the system. These two men had the exact same fraternal connections.....and the same brazenness attitude towards someone losing their life.
Don't be too quick to dismiss denver's story.....I'll bet there's many more of them. Some people....especially people who know they are gaming the system because of wealth, connections and family prestige, have been well schooled in blunting any damage to them caused by inappropriate behavior. Couple that with a class based justice system and it's easy to see the uniqueness of this conviction. This guy was left out dry by his own kind...a clear sign he was out of control and/or mentally unstable.
I looked it up each count is 15 yrs. max. if he gets the max consecutively it would be 30 yrs. If concurrently it would be 15 yrs. I've seen a few in GA with DUI manslaughter and all they got was 4 yrs. to do, the rest on paper. I don't know about FL.
I fear that on appeal, this POS will not serve a day behind bars. Typical playboy, overly-rich scum, wasting oxygen.
Oh no, you got it all wrong - he's a job creator. Don't you know that the wealthy earned their way there (as opposed to just being born). Oh yeah, this guy, and people like him, are what makes our country so great, let's give 'em another tax break. (if someone reads this and doesn't detect sarcasm - please take a remedial reading class).
wow fallout. that was very well done. nice job , no extra classes for me
wobblyone. it is correctly, Wasting good space, breathing good air, a definate waste of skin. Ignorant without a license and stupid without a permit. and btw, if i hear that "they will finally get some closure" I will puke. Lost a cousin years ago to nearly the same stupidity. the guy blew a 4.1, legally dead was at that time 4.0 so therefore, the defense said he was either someone else who could not be prosecuted, or the corpse which could not be prosecuted. he got off. law was changed however. Liver went south 4 months later, he croaked with a nice yellow tinge. there is no closure. You get stuck with the loss and hopefully whoever committed the crime gets the maximum sentence. Hopefully not like Michael ( i like young boys) jackson, Tedward ( have you ever tried to dress a dead woman in 10 feet of water) Kennedy, And OJ, who is still studiously looking for the killer or killers on the golf course.
So how he did he call his girlfriend if his phone was dead and he could not call 911? This guy must think we are morons. I hope he spends a long time in jail.
Jail time ? In this country ? Please. It doesn't matter what state he lives in. The appeals will go on forever, probably until after he is dead or has left the country on "vacation".
Since the world's oldest team sport originated in Persia shouldn't he have been referred to as polo shah?
And then his girlfriend could be called Polo She.
How about a polo horse's ass?
Got to think of a "mount" joke for his prison time now...
Actually the game played in Persia used human heads for the "Ball."
Nothing will ever bring back the loss of Scott Wilson but I am getting so tired of hearing about FUC*ERS like this getting a slap on the wrist. Ya he paid out millions I am sure but that does not bring anyone back from the dead. We here of laws like Jessica's Law with min/mand setencences for child molestors.
I feel that even if you suffer from alcohol addiction that we need to have consistant sentencing for guys like this NO MATTER what state you reside in.
I know is does no good but if a drunk driver ever killed one of my two sons I would become Judge, Jury, and Exicutioner..........PERIOD!!
roy black should be dis-barred(spelling) he has a history of lame exuses for evil people.
Roy Black is a criminal defense attorney and that's what they're supposed to do.
More like lies....
There are more attorneys who lie than tell the truth, it seems. They should be held accountable under the law just like everyone else!
They are only rehearsing for when they get elected to congress.
Deperately, it's a lawyer's job to serve the interests of their client. In every court case there are at least two sides and both cannot be right. Judges and juries decide which side is telling the truth but they don't prosecute the attorney for the side that loses.
This happened right down the street from my house! Weird that it is on national news. His story was soooo bizarre, so glad he is being held accountable and didn't weasel his way out of it with his high power lawyer. Who hits something, gets out and sees nothing there and proceeds to go get drunk? He claims he hit something but didn't know what it was...it was another car you threw into the lake moron! RIP Scott Wilson.
This is what should happen when someone takes a life in florida. Be brought before a jury to decide if any laws were broken. Regardless of the outcome, the facts should be heard and a decision be made by the people for the people.
When will he be sentenced? Is he free while waiting sentencing? I hope he gets the full thirty years and the girlfriend takes off with his money.
What gets me is that when he hit the other car. He didn't care who was in the other car. What's is wrong with people!!!!!!!!Sickening...I am just sad for the family that lost their son because of his actions.
What a JERK!
He wont serve a minute behind bars, watch.
This is a prime example of why we cant trust the 1% in this country, this "man" (dont know how a person of this low of character can be called a man) was willing to adopt his girlfriend to protect his money after taking a young mans life. and we're supposed to trust that their going to do right by the American people suffering in this country as they throw money at these aready rich candidates so they'll be puppets on a string while in office. Please...
I wondered since he "adopted" his girlfriend if he could be arrested for incest? I cannot fathom leaving someone to die like that with no remorse
Yes exactly. Everybody who is a drunk driver is in the 1%. And nobody in the 99% has ever killed anyone in a DUI crash and tried their best to get out of it. Great logic. You are a jealous fool.
@ T Dickson:
You need to run for office! We need more people like you representing us 99%.
SayNo, TDickson was not saying that only drunk 1%ers kill. He was saying, or at least how I interpret his post, that 1%ers such as this man will do anything to get out of "facing the music". He was more interested in protecting his money from a suit by the young man's family that he "adopted" his girlfriend. People such as this rich "man" frequently get out of jail time because of their money. That is what TDickson was saying, or so I think; not that the 99% never kill or hurt anyone when drunk.
Hope this guy gets the maximum prison sentence. It past time where the courts showed these people because they are wealthy they are not above the law.
He will buy his freedom. Period.
Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.
-Edward Abbey
Thats not a stew, Thats a freakin SWAMP!! you must not be from FL. I've NEVER seen scum in a stew!
B. Chester....you've never made a pot of stew or you would know that what ds posted is exactly correct.
I love stew.
Wow!!!! Justice in Florida???? How could that be??? Everyone gets away with murder in that loser state...
loser state? and you did not supply your state of residence.?? wonder why.....i love living here in south florida. every state has thier own problems, and i see your one for your state!
remanded into custody
Wow! Still haven't picked my lower jaw up off the floor!
good job south florida.......nothing like central florida. also i am glad that Karma finally showed her face and came back around to screw him as he tried to screw the goverment!