DUI Manslaughter Trial Of Polo Mogul Underway
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBSMiami) – Day two of testimony in the DUI manslaughter trial against Palm Beach County polo mogul John Goodman got underway Wednesday morning.
Monday saw famed defense attorney Roy Black spin a new tale of what happened the night Scott Wilson, 23, died.
Goodman is accused of driving drunk and speeding through a stop sign, knocking the car of Wilson into a canal where he died.
"And what did the defendant do? He walked away. And when he found a phone, he didn't call 911. He called his girlfriend," prosecutor Ellen Roberts said in her opening statements to jurors, according to CBS affiliate WPEC.
Black had a different take on events.
"He did not leave that scene and abandon someone to their death. He did not know there was somebody in that canal. He could not see that car," Black said, according to WPEC.
The case has drawn national attention after Goodman adopted his younger girlfriend as his daughter, allegedly to hide proceeds from any pending civil suits.
Black said engineers say Goodman's Bentley malfunctioned and that sensors shut the car down from the dashboard forward which is why the car raced through the intersection.
Goodman reportedly had a blood-alcohol level roughly twice the legal limit a few hours after the crash. Black said the alcohol was consumed after the crash at the home of polo player Kris Kampsen to ease the pain of his injuries from the crash, according to WPEC.
The state said Goodman spent more than $200 on a bar tab, including tequila, mind erasers and other drinks.
The first witnesses who testified on Tuesday established that Goodman was drinking in the hours just before the fatal crash; the defense argued the witnesses only saw Goodman have three drinks.
Wilson's family was in the courtroom Monday, including his mother, father, and their civil attorney Scott Smith.
