The founder of the Wellington polo club, John Goodman, was recently given a 16-year sentence after being convicted of DUI manslaughter and failure to render aid in the death of 23-year-old Scott Patrick Wilson on February 12, 2010.
A few days before Thanksgiving, Goodman’s attorneys learned that Palm Beach County Judge Jeffrey Colbath would not permit Goodman to post a multimillion cash bond while attempting to appeal the conviction. In response, the defense reportedly said that it would file an emergency challenge to Colbath’s decision in the 4th District Court of Appeal. The 51-year-old Goodman had been found guilty by a jury during a retrial of the case in October 2014.
Colbath had previously let Goodman free on a $7 million bond after his first conviction, imposing a house arrest restriction as well as full-time police guards at Goodman’s 80-acre estate. The judge said that there was nothing new presented to him during the second trying of the case. As a result, he imposed the same prison term that he had given the convicted Goodman back in May 2012, before it was revealed that there had been juror misconduct, which forced the retry.
The judge noted that it was within his discretion to deny bond, as is backed up by well-established law in Florida. He also pointed out that bond was denied because, this time, Goodman poses an increased flight risk.
In issuing his written order, Colbath described Goodman as “a wealthy individual with access to millions of dollars” who has “demonstrated his propensity to flee” by having left Wilson to drown in a canal following the crash back in 2010.
Goodman’s attorney, Elizabeth Parker, took another view: “Mr. Goodman is not a flight risk. He is optimistic about the appeal and he wants to clear his name. He has proven over the last four years that he will abide by the court’s restrictions.”
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