Vomit in 'man cave' among evidence John Goodman says should vindicate him of DUI manslaughter
WEST PALM BEACH — A multimillionaire twice convicted of DUI manslaughter for the death of a University of Central Florida graduate is trying to clear his name again — this time, by skewering the attorneys who fought to spare him from prison in the first place.
In the latest of several attempts to throw out his 16-year prison sentence, Wellington polo club founder John Goodman accused his former defense lawyers of failing to introduce testimony and evidence he believes could have vindicated him. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen, who oversaw a two-part evidentiary hearing Wednesday and Thursday, must decide whether he's right.
Jurors convicted Goodman of DUI manslaughter in 2012 and again in 2014 after reports of juror misconduct caused the first conviction to be overturned. Goodman's newest attorneys, Michael Ufferman and Don Pumphrey Jr., filed a motion for post-conviction relief in 2020, pointing to new evidence they say substantiates Goodman's version of events in the crash that killed 23-year-old Scott Wilson.
Related: John Goodman’s poverty claims fly in face of extravagance
Goodman ran a stop sign and crashed his Bentley into Wilson's Hyundai near 120th Avenue South and Lake Worth Road in Wellington at about 1 a.m. on Feb. 12, 2010. Experts at both of Goodman’s trials testified that Wilson could have survived the crash, but the collision pushed his overturned car into a nearby canal, where he drowned.
Goodman, heir to a Texas heating and air-conditioning fortune, fled from the scene and did not call authorities for help. Blood tests several hours after the crash placed Goodman’s alcohol content at 0.177, more than twice the legal limit.
Ufferman and Pumphrey said jurors would have acquitted Goodman had his legal team called certain witnesses — a toxicologist and a crash-reconstruction expert — to testify. Goodman testified Wednesday that he put his faith in the team of defense attorneys hired to represent him during his second trial: Scott Richardson, Douglas Duncan, Tama Kudman and Elizabeth Parker.
“Did you trust what your attorneys told you, and did you go along with everything they told you?” Pumphrey asked.“Yes," Goodman said.
He also blamed his ex-attorneys for not posing more questions to Kris Kampsen, owner of the “man cave” that Goodman said he wandered to after leaving the crash site. Goodman says he was sober at the time of the collision and became drunk at the private bar where he nursed his injuries afterward.
Though prosecutors have long said the story is made up, Goodman's new attorneys say Kampsen found a pool of vomit on the premises the day after the crash — potentially corroborating Goodman's version of events.
This week's two-day hearing focused largely on the team's decision not to hire a toxicology expert. Parker, Richardson and Duncan, who testified after Goodman, said the omission of a toxicology expert was a strategic one. All three described weekly meetings with Goodman, who must now convince the judge that their behavior amounted to ineffective counsel if he wants the conviction thrown out another time.
Before Gillen decides, the prosecutors and defense attorneys must provide their closing arguments in writing. Assistant State Attorney Leigh Miller warned the judge Wednesday not to be distracted by the new attorneys criticizing the old ones.
"The reason why he lost this trial was not because of a failure to call a toxicologist," she said. "He lost this trial because nobody believed his story."
Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Wellington polo club founder blames his attorneys for DUI manslaughter conviction
