Judge resentences polo mogul to 16 years in DUI manslaughter case, denies bond during appeal
Saying that a onetime billionaire who founded a Palm Beach polo club had resources that would make it easy for him to flee, a Florida judge on Friday resentenced John Goodman to a 16-year term in a DUI manslaughter case and refused to release him on bond while he is appealing his second conviction.
For a man of such means and access to so much capital, “no monetary amount could sufficiently secure the defendant’s continued presence in the jurisdiction,” said Chief Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath in a written order. He said Goodman otherwise could easily flee “to a country without extradition and to live a very comfortable lifestyle for the rest of his days.”
Lawyers for the 51-year-old insist he is not a flight risk and say they plan an immediate appeal of the bond denial, the Sun Sentinel reports.
Goodman also was sentenced to the maximum 16-year term after his first conviction, the Palm Beach Post notes. The defense had sought 11 years, with credit for two years he spent on house arrest.
Prosecutors said a drunken Goodman blew through a stop sign in 2010 in his $200,000 Bentley convertible, striking a Hyundai Sonata driven by Scott Patrick Wilson, 23. The impact launched the SUV into a nearby canal where it landed upside-down. Wilson, a recent engineering graduate, drowned.
Juror conduct has repeatedly been an issue in the hard-fought case.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Sequestered juror’s Internet surfing at issue in Palm Beach polo mogul’s DUI manslaughter retrial”
ABAJournal.com: “Polo mogul found guilty in DUI manslaughter retrial; judge orders him to jail”
