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John Bailey Goodman (born 18 September 1963) is an American businessman and polo player whose wealth originates in the family appliance and air conditioning businesses, Goodman Manufacturing Company. A Houston, Texas, native, he became more widely known in the United States for his legal difficulties stemming from a manslaughter conviction in 2012.
Goodman was born in 1963, one of four children of a wealthy Texas couple. [1] [2] His father, Harold V. Goodman, amassed a fortune in air conditioning manufacturing and also raised racehorses. Goodman Manufacturing Company, a little-known but well-positioned company, had been started in 1975 and run by the elder Goodman since its inception. It was launched by the elder Goodman based on his decades of experience as an air conditioning contractor and concentrated on making flexible ducts. [3]
From his Massachusetts boarding school, Goodman attended Wesley College in Delaware. Upon returning home, Goodman worked for the family business in a variety of different positions, starting as its president of international sales. He ultimately served as president and chairman. [4] The company grew to become the largest privately held air conditioning and heating equipment manufacturer in the United States.
In 1996, the company hired Frank H. Murray to become chairman and CEO, a role which he held until the end of 1999. Goodman was a board member when Murray purchased Amana from Raytheon in 1997, then sold its microwave and appliance divisions to Maytag in 2001 for a reported $325 million. Goodman was given control of the company before his father's death in 1995.
Goodman sold the company in 2004 for approximately $1.43 billion. At the time, it was the second largest air conditioning manufacturer in the United States. [5] [6]
Goodman married Isla Carroll Reckling in December 1986. [1] Her family has ties to Exxon oil. She is a descendant of Frank Sterling and philanthropist Isla Carroll Sterling Turner. [7] The couple, who had two children, became estranged and originally filed for divorce in 2005, but reconciled. The Goodmans' divorce was finalized in November 2008 after 22 years of marriage.
Around 1989, Goodman took up the sport of polo and became a member of the United States Polo Association (USPA). He was also a member of board of directors of the Houston Polo Club and served as its president in 1994 and 1995.
Goodman was the founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. He told Palm Beach Life in 2004 that the club was specifically designed to attract South American players as well as wealthy individuals and celebrities from nearby Miami and Palm Beach.
Goodman was also involved in publishing. He provided start up funds for Cowboys & Indians (magazine), later becoming sole owner of Westchester Media and joining with USFR Media Group to publish several other magazines, including Polo, the official publication of International Polo Club Palm Beach. That publication was tangled in a lengthy lawsuit with the Ralph Lauren Corporation concerning brand confusion.
Goodman gained notoriety following a DUI manslaughter arrest after involvement in a hit-and-run automobile collision on February 12, 2010, at about 1:00 AM. He was driving his car near the polo club he founded, when he disregarded a stop sign and collided with a car driven by Scott Patrick Wilson, 23. Goodman left the scene of the accident without calling emergency services. Wilson's car ended up overturned in a canal and he drowned. Goodman broke his wrist. Goodman hired well-known criminal defense attorney, Roy Black, best known for high-profile trials involving William Kennedy Smith and Rush Limbaugh.
While testifying in the criminal case, Goodman said his car malfunctioned, which was the cause of the crash. He denied being drunk or under the influence of drugs; however, his blood alcohol level of .177 was more than twice the legal limit three hours after the crash. Goodman was found guilty of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in March 2012. In May 2012, Goodman was sentenced to 16 years in prison and fined $10,000.
Goodman was granted a new trial in May 2013 due to juror misconduct. At retrial, Goodman was again convicted of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide and on November 21, 2014, he was again sentenced to 16 years in prison. Prison credit was denied for 810 days spent on house arrest pending the second trial. He was also denied bail pending his second appeal. [8] In 2017, the Florida District Courts of Appeal affirmed his conviction [9] Goodman is incarcerated by the Florida Department of Corrections, with a 2028 release date. [10] He continues to file appeals. [11]
Wellington is a village west of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and 66 mi (106 km) north of Miami. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area and the fifth largest municipality in Palm Beach County by population. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 61,637 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making it the most populous village in the state.
James Donald Halsell Jr. is a retired United States Air Force officer, a former NASA astronaut. The veteran of five Space Shuttle missions pled guilty in 2021 to two counts of manslaughter and two counts of assault as a result of a motor vehicle accident in 2016. As of February 2024, he is incarcerated in Alabama. He is the second American astronaut to spend time in jail after Lisa Nowak.
Vehicular homicide is a crime that involves the death of a person other than the driver as a result of either criminally negligent or murderous operation of a motor vehicle.
William David Lane is an American builder of custom motorcycles, owner of Choppers Inc. in Melbourne, Florida, known for his 2009 conviction and imprisonment in Florida for a drunk-driving incident in 2006, where Lane's driving caused the death of another biker/moped
Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against a person who, through criminal negligence, allows another person to die. Other times, an intentional killing may be negotiated down to this lesser charge as a compromised resolution of a murder case, as might occur in the context of the intentional shooting of an unarmed man after a traffic altercation. Negligent homicide can be distinguished from involuntary manslaughter by its mens rea requirement: negligent homicide requires criminal negligence, while manslaughter requires recklessness.
Amy Rose Locane is an American actress known for her role in John Waters' 1990 musical comedy Cry-Baby. In 1992, Locane portrayed Sandy Harling in the first season of the prime time soap opera Melrose Place. She appeared in the 1992 film School Ties alongside Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser, as the object of their affections.
Causing death by dangerous driving is a statutory offence in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as Hong Kong. It is an aggravated form of dangerous driving. In the UK, it was created by section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, and in Hong Kong it was created by section 36 of the Road Traffic Ordinance.
In the English law of homicide, manslaughter is a less serious offence than murder, the differential being between levels of fault based on the mens rea or by reason of a partial defence. In England and Wales, a common practice is to prefer a charge of murder, with the judge or defence able to introduce manslaughter as an option. The jury then decides whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of either murder or manslaughter. On conviction for manslaughter, sentencing is at the judge's discretion, whereas a sentence of life imprisonment is mandatory on conviction for murder. Manslaughter may be either voluntary or involuntary, depending on whether the accused has the required mens rea for murder.
Christopher Michael Oliva was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Savatage. During his lifetime, he released seven studio albums and one EP with the band.
U.S. Farm & Ranch Supply Company, Inc. was an integrated media company incorporated in Texas in February 2000. A family-owned business, it was headed by Chairman and CEO Gregory L. Brown, a rancher who previously owned an independent oil and gas firm, and his wife, socialite Linda Lyons Brown. It owned television stations, published lifestyle magazines, and created infomercials and promotional videos.
Darion Conner is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) and the Arena Football League (AFL). He played for eight seasons in the NFL, from 1990 to 1997 and seven seasons (1999–2005) in the AFL. He was selected in the second round of the 1990 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons. He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers. He is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for DUI-manslaughter and vehicular homicide. However, in July 2008, an appeals court ruled that he would be given a retrial.
Dave Aronberg is the State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida and a former member of the Florida Senate. He was elected to the Senate in 2002 as its youngest member and served for eight years. He is a Democrat.
The Titusville Police Department (TPD) is the police force with the primary responsibility of public safety and the enforcement of state laws and county/municipal ordinances in the city of Titusville, Florida. In 2018, the department consisted of 137 full-time personnel and 17 part-time personnel. Full-time personnel includes sworn members, 911 dispatchers, code enforcement, and non-sworn civilians. The department also contained part-time personnel, like school crossing guards or record clerks.
The National Polo Center (NPC), formerly the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC), located in Wellington, Florida, is one of the largest polo clubs in the world. The club includes several natural grass polo fields, two of which are part of stadiums. Since 2022, the facility has been owned by the United States Polo Association (USPA).
Scott W. Rothstein is an American disbarred lawyer, convicted felon, and the former managing shareholder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the now-defunct Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. He funded an extravagant lifestyle with a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, one of the largest such in history.
Bob Norman is a journalist in South Florida who serves as the news director for the Florida Center for Government Accountability and as contributing writer for Columbia Journalism Review. He previously worked at WPLG-Channel 10 beginning in 2011 as an on-air investigative reporter. Norman worked for several years as a weekly newspaper and online columnist. He broke the corruption story of $1 billion Ponzi scheme operator Scott Rothstein's October 27, 2009 flight to Morocco under suspicious circumstances. Rothstein, who returned to face inquiries, is a former Fort Lauderdale attorney investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and arrested on 1 December 2009. In 2008 Bob Norman reported an unusual circumstance following the murder of Melissa Britt Lewis, employee of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler (RRA) law firm, wherein the prosecuting attorney in the Lewis murder case came to work with RRA two months after the murder. Rothstein has not been connected to the murder, however murder victim Ms. Lewis had been close to Debra Villegas, RRA Chief Operating Officer, whose husband Tony Villegas was identified as the murderer by the City of Plantation Police represented by Scott Rothstein.
Nicole Nadra Baukus is an American woman convicted of two counts of vehicular manslaughter stemming from a fatal car collision on June 29, 2012, in which she was driving intoxicated. Baukus pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 38 years in prison with the possibility of parole. Highway surveillance cameras showed Baukus' vehicle traveling on the wrong side of Interstate 45 after she had consumed alcohol at a nearby bar. A later request for a new trial was denied. Baukus attended and graduated from Oak Ridge High School in Conroe, Texas.
Kayla Mendoza is an American woman who was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2015 after being convicted of killing two women while driving drunk in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on November 17, 2013. She was 20 years old and not licensed to drive at the time. Mendoza is infamously known for tweeting: "2 drunk 2 care" hours before the fatal accident.
Corey Jones was shot to death by police officer Nouman K. Raja, while waiting for a tow truck by his disabled car, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Noxubee County High School is the only public secondary school in Noxubee County, Mississippi. It is located at 16478 Hwy 45 in Macon, Mississippi. Its attendance boundary is all of Noxubee County.
