Blaming the car

A concussion, a bad Bentley and a barn bender: Opening arguments in the JohnGoodman trial

John Goodman
Today Show
Scott Wilson
Wilson Family
Defense attorney Roy Black
Stoopid Housewives

Prosecutors and defense attorneys painted two very different pictures about the night of Feb. 10, 2010 in the opening arguments of John Goodman's DUI manslaughter trial in Palm Beach.

What's not under dispute is that John Goodman, a Houston-raised multimillionaire and the founder of the Wellington Polo Club, was out drinking at a charity event and at a bar before getting behind the wheel of his Bentley after midnight. Goodman later ran a stop sign and hit a Hyundai driven by 23-year-old Scott Wilson, knocking his car into a canal where Wilson drowned. Goodman did not render aid at the accident and did not call 9-1-1 for over an hour.

Stepping up first, prosecutors led by Assistant State Attorney Ellen Roberts tallied Goodman's $212 bar tab, which included Irish car bombs (a shot of Jaegermister dropped into a pint of Guinness), rounds of tequila shots, a drink called a "mind eraser" and a vodka-soda. Roberts said that according to Goodman's blood alcohol level taken after the crash, he'd had the equivalent of 16 to 18 drinks.

Roberts also mentions several damaging statements from Goodman to witnesses the night of the murder, from telling his girlfriend that he'd "fucked up," mentioning that he'd had a few drinks to the woman whose phone he'd borrowed, and even telling the 9-1-1 dispatcher that he "just didn't see" the other car.

But defense attorney Roy Black has a different explanation for the night's events. Black claims that Goodman only had a couple drinks that at The Players Club and was sober when he left. Black said he has experts that will testify that the accident was caused not by driver error but by a throttle that stuck, sending Goodman's Bentley surging forward into Scott Wilson's car.

Black explains Goodman walking away from the accident by claiming that he had a "grade three" concussion, plus a broken wrist and a back injury. Disoriented, Goodman walked from the scene to the barn of polo player Kris Kampen, where he proceeded to drink from Kampen's liquor stash. According to Black, Goodman's blood alcohol level was double the legal limit at the time of his post-crash test only because he went on a bender in the barn to numb the pain, not because he was driving under the influence.

Black is doing everything he can to create some reasonable doubt, but this theory stretches the definition of "reasonable." As the Broward Palm Beach New Times blog The Pulp put it:

Now, [we] knew the barn drink defense was coming. What we couldn't predict was that Goodman's defense team would ask a jury to believe he got trashed, alone, in his friend's barn, in a period of about half an hour. Yet he did not get drunk over the course of several hours, drinking with friends at two bars before he drove. Seasoned drinkers: Do you buy that argument?"

Well, do you?

unspecified

bowled over

Houston artist dishes on Food Bank fundraiser happening this weekend

Picture of several artists at a table with a bunch of handmade ceramic bowls.

Photo courtesy Paula Murphy

Ceramics professor Cori Cryer and her students from Lone Star College Kingwood and the bowls they donated to the 20th Empty Bowls fundraiser

On Saturday, May 16, shoppers have an opportunity to feed those in need by purchasing unique, handcrafted items. The 20th Empty Bowls event takes place at Silver Street Studios at Sawyer Yards from 10 am to 3 pm. A preview party takes place on Friday, May 15 from 6-8 pm (buy tickets here).

The fundraiser is a collaboration between Houston-area ceramists, woodturners, and artists working in all media and Silver Street Studios.

Shoppers can purchase one-of-a-kind bowls for $25 each (larger bowls are priced accordingly). A simple lunch from Salata, a sweet treat from Ben & Jerry’s, and iced coffee from Katz Coffee is served until it runs out. Every dollar of the purchases goes to the Houston Food Bank, which estimates that for every dollar donated, it’s able to provide three meals to Houstonians in need. Since its inception, Empty Bowls Houston has raised $1,208,959 for the Houston Food Bank, which equates to more than 3.6 million meals.

The event also includes live music and art demos. More than 2,000 bowls will be available for purchase, donated by area artists.

Empty Bowls began as a grassroots effort started many years ago at a high school in Michigan and is now held all over the world. Nearly everything for Empty Bowls events, from the food served to the venues hosting events and the bowls for sale are donated.

Cori Cryer, a professor of ceramics at Lone Star College Kingwood, is one of those who, along with her students, donated bowls for the fundraiser. She’s been involved with the effort for all of its 20 years in Houston, and before that in other cities.

“When I started donating, I didn't have a whole lot of money,” Cryer tells CultureMap. “I was a graduate student, and so this was a way for me to give back to the local community. And I think my students today kind of recognize that same feel. You know, they may not have money to send a check off to someone, [but this is] an easy way for them to be able to contribute to the community.”

Cryer teaches Ceramics I and Ceramics II to a variety of dual-credit high school students, college students, and continuing education students. Those in her Ceramics II classes are required to create five bowls to donate to Empty Bowls. But her students in her introductory class often end up donating as well. This year, she and her students provided approximately 150 bowls for the event.

Cryer said that the style of bowls for sale range from something as small as a condiment bowl to much larger serving bowls As each bowl is an individual work, they represent a variety of styles and themes. One of her students this year designed a glazed, ceramic leaf-shaped bowl with ceramic insects on it.

“There's a ladybug and a caterpillar and a spider,” she says, each created out of clay and positioned around the bowl.

Cryer loves seeing how the artists use their imaginations and abilities.

“Most of my students do throw their bowls on the pottery wheel, but that's not required,” she says. “They can hand-build them. It’s completely up to them what kind of construction technique they use.”

Cryer loves knowing that this event is a way for students to see that their artistic efforts can have lasting impact on the community around them. In addition to being able to support the Houston Food Bank, the bowls her class donates, she knows, take on special meaning for those who purchase them.

“I tell my students there is a pot for every person and a person for every pot,” she says.

In fact, one of her personal favorite bowls is one she purchased from an Empty Bowls sale.

“It's a very small bowl, maybe like three inches in diameter, and two inches tall, and it's a little pink pig that I think an elementary student made,” she said. “He has no tail, and he has no ears, but he has a snout, and it is definitely a pig. And I love that little bowl. I have it sitting on my desk at home.”

Cryer knows shoppers attending the Empty Bowls sale will find similar, soon-to-be-beloved items.

The Saturday event is free. Those wishing to attend the preview party on Friday, May 15 from 6-8 pm, which offers light bites, beer and wine, and the first chance to purchase bowls, can purchase a $50 ticket online. In addition, Archway Gallery is hosting an exhibition of 30 one-of-a-kind bowls that can be purchased as part of the Empty Bowls fundraiser. The exhibit runs through May 30.