WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 5 (UPI) -- Lawyers for a Florida polo mogul say he deserves a retrial for a drunken driving crash after a juror said he did a drinking experiment during the trial.
Goodman was convicted in March on DUI-manslaughter and failure-to-render-aid charges for the February 2010 car crash that resulted in the death of 23-year-old Scott Wilson, The West Palm Beach Post reported.
During his trial, Goodman, founder of the International Polo Club, said he had three drinks before driving home.
Juror Dennis DeMartin claimed in a 32-page tell-all book he wrote on the trial that he conducted an experiment in which he drank three vodkas in half-hour increments to test how impaired Goodman would have been when he drove. He concluded Goodman would have been too impaired to drive.
On Friday, Goodman's defense team filed a motion urging Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath to grant a new trial in light of DeMartin's claim.
"Dennis DeMartin is a nice fellow. I don't want to demonize him. It's not who I am as a person," attorney Roy Black said Friday. "But Dennis did not follow any of the rules in the case."
DeMartin ignored Colbath's instructions not to conduct any independent research or investigation into the case, Black said.
Revelations about DeMartin's experiment came shortly after another juror, Michael St. John, said he was unsure of Goodman's guilt and felt pressured to return a guilty verdict.
"You get to the point where enough is enough," Black said. "At some point, a judge has to pull the plug and say this man deserves a new trial."
Prosecutor Ellen Roberts said Friday she hasn't read the book, but "it doesn't surprise me anymore."
Goodman is scheduled to be sentenced May 11. He faces up to 30 years in prison if Colbath does not order a retrial.
"I'm sure that by May 11 Judge Colbath will have vacated Mr. Goodman's conviction," Black said.
