Lisa Pembleton is a horse person who spent the past winter living in her camper, about a mile from us, parked next to the barn where her horse was stabled. She’s in her early 20s and hopes to be an Olympic equestrian.
She drove to Wellington, Florida in her camper with her cat Sylvester. Behind her, she pulled a trailer with her two horses, Jubal and Geno. Like a lot of these wealthy kids, who hang out here in the winter, she spent her days riding and her nights with friends or in her camper, checking on her horses from time to time.
In early February, Lisa had a dream of a guy coming into her camper in the middle of the night, waking her and saying he was in an accident and needed a phone. Instead of her cell phone, she reached for her mace and told the man to get out.
One week later, it happened. When she awoke to find the man in her bedroom, he said he’d just been in an ‘end of the world’ accident and needed to use her phone. But Lisa didn’t mace him. She handed him her cell and he called his girlfriend, then 911 to report the accident. Lisa, who seems very religious, and writes about going to church on her blog, was glad it didn’t happen exactly like the dream. “By God’s grace my response was different.” She added: “The only thing I regret is while I was with him for about half hour, before the authorities came, I never prayed with him.”
Now when I explain who the man is and what he did, you might think, “The hell with praying with him. You should’ve maced him like you did in the dream.” You be the judge.
The man who came into her bedroom that night is Wellington polo mongul John Goodman. He was very drunk and had just killed a new college graduate coming home from Orlando for his sister’s birthday. Goodman drove his Bentley through a stop sign, slammed into Scott Wilson’s Honda, flipping it over and over and into a canal where Wilson drowned.
Apparently, too inebriated to try to save Wilson, Goodman fled the scene and found Lisa Pendleton. He told authorities that Lisa gave him an alcoholic beverage to calm his nerves. But Lisa doesn’t drink.
So you would expect that Goodman would’ve been arrested on the spot like any other person who commits vehicular homicide while intoxicated. Nope. Goodman, a billionaire from Texas, kept walking. You see, he has some influence around here. He owns the Palm Beach International Polo Club, –a state-of-the-art facility and the world center of winter polo. His adjacent estate is so large that people sometimes mistakenly drive into it looking for the polo stadium.
The polo facility and the estate are located about a mile from the site of the accident. Over the past weeks, we’ve driven numerous times past the crash site and always noticed the stand of wreaths and flowered crosses near the canal where Scott Wilson died, a reminder of not only the accident but that Goodman was still free.
The Palm Beach Post published regular updates on the case and questioned why Goodman hadn’t been charged. But Goodman’s luck ran out this week. On May 20, more than three months after the accident, he was arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide. He walked a few hours later on a $100,000 bond.
More details have emerged. Before the 1:30 a.m. accident, Goodman reportedly had been drinking at a restaurant called the Player’s Club.We know the place. It’s located less than half a mile from our house, closer than any restaurant. But Trish and I have only been there two or three time in ten years. It’s very expensive, very exclusive. How exclusive? You have to pay $10,000 a year for a good table in the upstairs dining and disco area. Lesser tables cost two grand a year. Peons can stand up for free and listen to the music. We’ve never gone to the disco, standing or sitting. We’ve eaten lunch there once, dinner another time. The food was excellent. The prices were eye-popping.
But back to Lisa Pendleton. She recently wrote on her blog: “By the way, I did not get scared at all, that is God’s peace.”
A friend responded, “Wow! I am so excited about all the doors God is opening for you!…Obviously God thinks it is very important. How awesome that He prepared you.”
We wonder what Scott Wilson’s mom thinks about that. She sees doors closing, the sky falling, and her son, who was about Lisa’s age, in a grave.
Is there a disparity in this country about how justice is administered? You bet. If your son or daughter or you yourself had slammed into Scott’s car, causing it to plunge into a canal, causing Scott to drown, and your blood alcohol level was through the roof and you fled the scene, where would you be tonight? Not out on a six-figure bond. You’d be sitting in a jail cell, bond denied, awaiting trial.
Disgusting.
Re "Guess who is defending John Goodman. Roy Black."
Why am I not surprised?
The real reason I posted again was because I see I conflated the name of the perp with the name of the victim in my previous post. I referred to the filthy rich drunk driver as Scott Goodman when his name is actually John Goodman. Scott Wilson is the young man who was killed when his car was totalled by the drunk driver.
So I'm correcting that error now.
Speaking of Rush L., when he was charged with doctor shopping to obtain large quantities of oxycondin and other pain killers, he was defended by Roy Black.
Guess who is defending John Goodman. Roy Black.
In my more cynical moments, I wonder if karma is something we've made up to make ourselves feel better. This whole scenario goes along with hate mongers like rush, o'reilly etc making so much $.
Re "You bet there is disparity. But this man will never be free. There are other laws that he is not capable of eluding in the Universe."
I'm so tired of seeing the rich, powerful and connected get away with murder (literally). This "entitled" creep Scott Goodman isn't even the worst of them–I'm thinking of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al. I wish I had more faith in the law of karma than I do. It's not that I don't believe it works, but I think it often works in a way that is very subtle and not obvious to outside observers.
For once I'd like to see it work in the more tangible form we used to call justice. But the idea of justice seems more like a quaint and distant memory all the time.
The very rich are usually exempt from the law. (BP, for instance) "Money talks,—- walks". A very unfortunate situation and the dream that preceded it, is incredible! Great post!
well, if he isn't ready to live up to the challenge of his name, he should be bracing for the other challenge – that of karma – which will teach him the balance in life – this one or the next – that he obviously is missing –
then, there is this young woman whose only regret is that she didn't pray over this drunken intruder who had just killed a young man – just where did she learn "religion"! – that her first thought was not the soul of the innocent young man who had been so horrifically killed, but rather his drunken killer!
and if this moneymankiller being able to post bond at all, let alone such an insulting one in amount, is not enough for the innocent victim and his family, the stallone boys – father and son – have now come out publicly asking for forgiveness for the drunken killer – money and fame kissing money and fame – again
ok – i have rambled enough – such a sad sad commentary on this society –
Nancy, you are spot-dead-on. No one escapes the immutable laws of karma, by whatever word or name one may choose to call that Law which is applicable to all and which has no distinction between any material circumstance that may affect any individual member or group of the masses. We do reap what we sow, if not in this current life experience, then most certainly in another. cJc
Maybe he's ready to take up the challenge of his name – Goodman.
You bet there is disparity. But this man will never be free. There are other laws that he is not capable of eluding in the Universe.
Many times it is those who make the laws or have the political clout to get them made who are the worst offenders. If the offenders are from our group let them off. Offenders of the "they" group must be punished severely.
Ray
Maybe the disparity exists all over the world, Mike.
Something you obviously feel strongly about. Unfortunately there is a disparity in lots of countries, including where I am in the UK. Money (and who you know in the right circles)is powerful and can make a world of difference as to how you are treated. Sometimes there seems to be two sets of laws. Mustn't ramble on!