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Jurors find Goodman guilty of DUI manslaughter; Wellington polo mogul taken into custody
By DAPHNE DURET
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 5:22 p.m. Friday, March 23, 2012
Posted: 5:57 a.m. Friday, March 23, 2012
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WEST PALM BEACH — Prosecutor Ellen Roberts prepared Lili Wilson for the worst.
"No matter what happens, it is what it is," Roberts told her. "If it comes back not guilty, we did the best we could do."
A few rows in front of Lili Wilson, John Goodman listened as his attorney Mark Shapiro talked to him, perhaps preparing him for the same.
It wasn't clear what Shapiro was saying, but Goodman several times mouthed the words "Okay. Okay."
The jury filed in soon afterwards. When Goodman had testified in his DUI manslaughter case on Wednesday, several of them couldn't take their eyes off of him as his attorney Roy Black and Roberts took turns questioning him.
Now no one looked at him. They all stared straight ahead.
After two weeks, their deliberations lasted 5 ½ hours, and that included a lunch break and the time it took to replay the 911 call Goodman made nearly an hour after the crash.
Goodman was guilty, they decided. Guilty of DUI manslaughter with failure to render aid and vehicular manslaughter.
Black asked Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath to allow Goodman, heir to a Texas heating and air conditioning fortune, to stay out of jail until sentencing.
Colbath declined, and ordered Goodman taken into custody immediately.
Two deputies escorted him to a door less than 10 feet away from where he had sat since the start of the case. It led to a holding cell, where he will stay until he is transported to the Palm Beach County Jail.
Goodman will likely stay in jail until his sentencing hearing, set for April 30 at 1:30 p.m. Colbath reserved two hours for the hearing. Goodman, 48, faces up to 30 years in prison.
Colbath said he was willing to consider an agreed-upon sentence recommendation if lawyers on both sides were willing to negotiate. If not, he said, the sentence would be up to him.
Lili Wilson cried as she watched Goodman leave.
Moments later, shaken and dabbing tears from her eyes, she left the courtroom with her attorney Christian Searcy at her side.
"I'm not very good at this," she said, stopping before a throng of reporters and television cameras. "I want to thank the juryJustice has been served."
An emotional Lili Wilson said she had no even thought about how long she wants Goodman to spend in prison. Her attorney, Chris Searcy, said the family would make the decision after meeting with Roberts.
"I am always going to miss my son and will cherish his memories," Lili WIlson said. "Coming from me and friend and family, it's time for the healing to begin."
A short distance away, Scott Smith, the attorney for Wilson's father William, asked reporters to wait until Goodman's family passed through the hallway before reading a statement.
"Scott's parents suffered the most terrific and painful loss of all," Smith said, and then described the parents' frantic efforts to find the crash scene after receiving a telephone call from police. "Although it's been two years, Mr. Wilson still suffers."
As for the sentence Wilson's father will recommend to the judge, Smith said "we'll make that decision as it approaches."
Goodman's 911 call became the only evidence the jury asked to review in the case aside from the exhibits sent back into the jury room with them. During the call, Goodman at some point said he didn't see another car but knew he had hit something.
But earlier in the call he referred to another car, saying he didn't see what happened to it.
Jurors apparently rejected the three-part defense Black put up on behalf of the Wellington polo club founder.
In closing arguments Thursday, Black told jurors a confluence of circumstances he'd explained to them last week - a malfunction in Goodman's Bentley, a concussion from the crash, and drinks guzzled after the wreck - left Goodman with a blood alcohol level of twice that at which drivers are presumed impaired after the crash.
Black talked for more than an hour to jurors about equality for justice. There should be no difference between rich and poor in the courtroom, he told them, but prosecutors' constant references to Goodman's Bentley and his spacious Wellington estate had made an issue where there should be none.
Black left the courtroom without comment, but later issued a statement vowing to appeal. Among the most obvious issues: Colbath denied Black's request to move the trial out of Palm Beach County, where Black said a class bias fueled by intense media coverage kept him from getting a fair jury.
"It is our belief that multiple errors were committed during and before the trial that, in effect, denied our client's ability to get a fair trial," Black said in the statement. "We intend to file an appeal so that our client can receive the just and fair proceeding to which he is entitled by law."
For Roberts, who will retire in May, Goodman's conviction is the last big win of her nearly three decade career.
Roberts said she has not decided what sentence to recommend for Goodman. She said she would decide after meeting with Wilson's parents.
Under state sentencing guidelines, because he has no criminal record he would get between 11 1/2 and 30 years.
Roberts said she hadn't read bloggers, who claim they hate John Goodman for what he did and suspect he is rotten.
"Those bloggers need to get a job," she said. "He is not a bad person. Ninety-nine percent of my defendants aren't bad people. They make bad decisions."
By DAPHNE DURET
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 5:22 p.m. Friday, March 23, 2012
Posted: 5:57 a.m. Friday, March 23, 2012
E-mail Print Share Larger Type
WEST PALM BEACH — Prosecutor Ellen Roberts prepared Lili Wilson for the worst.
"No matter what happens, it is what it is," Roberts told her. "If it comes back not guilty, we did the best we could do."
A few rows in front of Lili Wilson, John Goodman listened as his attorney Mark Shapiro talked to him, perhaps preparing him for the same.
It wasn't clear what Shapiro was saying, but Goodman several times mouthed the words "Okay. Okay."
The jury filed in soon afterwards. When Goodman had testified in his DUI manslaughter case on Wednesday, several of them couldn't take their eyes off of him as his attorney Roy Black and Roberts took turns questioning him.
Now no one looked at him. They all stared straight ahead.
After two weeks, their deliberations lasted 5 ½ hours, and that included a lunch break and the time it took to replay the 911 call Goodman made nearly an hour after the crash.
Goodman was guilty, they decided. Guilty of DUI manslaughter with failure to render aid and vehicular manslaughter.
Black asked Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath to allow Goodman, heir to a Texas heating and air conditioning fortune, to stay out of jail until sentencing.
Colbath declined, and ordered Goodman taken into custody immediately.
Two deputies escorted him to a door less than 10 feet away from where he had sat since the start of the case. It led to a holding cell, where he will stay until he is transported to the Palm Beach County Jail.
Goodman will likely stay in jail until his sentencing hearing, set for April 30 at 1:30 p.m. Colbath reserved two hours for the hearing. Goodman, 48, faces up to 30 years in prison.
Colbath said he was willing to consider an agreed-upon sentence recommendation if lawyers on both sides were willing to negotiate. If not, he said, the sentence would be up to him.
Lili Wilson cried as she watched Goodman leave.
Moments later, shaken and dabbing tears from her eyes, she left the courtroom with her attorney Christian Searcy at her side.
"I'm not very good at this," she said, stopping before a throng of reporters and television cameras. "I want to thank the juryJustice has been served."
An emotional Lili Wilson said she had no even thought about how long she wants Goodman to spend in prison. Her attorney, Chris Searcy, said the family would make the decision after meeting with Roberts.
"I am always going to miss my son and will cherish his memories," Lili WIlson said. "Coming from me and friend and family, it's time for the healing to begin."
A short distance away, Scott Smith, the attorney for Wilson's father William, asked reporters to wait until Goodman's family passed through the hallway before reading a statement.
"Scott's parents suffered the most terrific and painful loss of all," Smith said, and then described the parents' frantic efforts to find the crash scene after receiving a telephone call from police. "Although it's been two years, Mr. Wilson still suffers."
As for the sentence Wilson's father will recommend to the judge, Smith said "we'll make that decision as it approaches."
Goodman's 911 call became the only evidence the jury asked to review in the case aside from the exhibits sent back into the jury room with them. During the call, Goodman at some point said he didn't see another car but knew he had hit something.
But earlier in the call he referred to another car, saying he didn't see what happened to it.
Jurors apparently rejected the three-part defense Black put up on behalf of the Wellington polo club founder.
In closing arguments Thursday, Black told jurors a confluence of circumstances he'd explained to them last week - a malfunction in Goodman's Bentley, a concussion from the crash, and drinks guzzled after the wreck - left Goodman with a blood alcohol level of twice that at which drivers are presumed impaired after the crash.
Black talked for more than an hour to jurors about equality for justice. There should be no difference between rich and poor in the courtroom, he told them, but prosecutors' constant references to Goodman's Bentley and his spacious Wellington estate had made an issue where there should be none.
Black left the courtroom without comment, but later issued a statement vowing to appeal. Among the most obvious issues: Colbath denied Black's request to move the trial out of Palm Beach County, where Black said a class bias fueled by intense media coverage kept him from getting a fair jury.
"It is our belief that multiple errors were committed during and before the trial that, in effect, denied our client's ability to get a fair trial," Black said in the statement. "We intend to file an appeal so that our client can receive the just and fair proceeding to which he is entitled by law."
For Roberts, who will retire in May, Goodman's conviction is the last big win of her nearly three decade career.
Roberts said she has not decided what sentence to recommend for Goodman. She said she would decide after meeting with Wilson's parents.
Under state sentencing guidelines, because he has no criminal record he would get between 11 1/2 and 30 years.
Roberts said she hadn't read bloggers, who claim they hate John Goodman for what he did and suspect he is rotten.
"Those bloggers need to get a job," she said. "He is not a bad person. Ninety-nine percent of my defendants aren't bad people. They make bad decisions."
