In west Palm Beach, Florida, Houston native John Goodman took the stand in his own defense yesterday.
He's accused of being drunk behind the wheel in February 2010, running a stop sign and causing an accident which killed 23-year-old Scott Wilson. The crash caused Wilson's car to go into the canal, where he drowned.
That night, the International Polo Club founder and heir to a Texas Heating and Air Conditioning fortune bought hundreds of dollars of drinks at two different bars, but his defense attorney narrowed that down.
"At the time you left the White Horse Tavern after having one drink there, were you intoxicated impaired or drunk?" asked his lawyer.
"Absolutely not," said Goodman.
"When you left the Player's Club after having those three drinks, were you intoxicated, impaired or drunk?" asked his attorney.
"Absolutely not," he responded.
Goodman testified, too, that after the crash, he didn't know there was car in the canal. He went to a friend's barn and drank heavily and that is what accounted for his later high blood alcohol contest.
Goodman faces 30 years in prison, if convicted.
Goodman made headlines earlier this year when he legally adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend.
The move gives Heather Hutchins a share of a trust fund worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It was originally set up for Goodman's two biological children and could shield his assets in a civil suit.
