The men file in slowly to the meeting room at the Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. “As-Salaam-Alaikum,” they greet one another, shaking hands, smiling warmly at a Sunrise police officer they recognize from prayer services.About 25 men are here, some wearing skull caps, others wearing police uniforms. The…
John Askins spent 24 years in Miami investigating staged accidents, fake injury claims, and other car insurance fraud before going on to head the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud. He retired from government in September but followed this month’s new personal injury protection (PIP) reform bill closely. All Florida drivers…
A Palm Beach County jury this afternoon found Wellington polo mogul John Goodman guilty of DUI manslaughter, failure to render aid, and vehicular homicide. The conviction comes two years after Goodman sped through a stop sign in Wellington, causing a car crash that killed 23-year-old Scott Wilson. (Read our feature…
Last month, we brought you news of violence involving Mavericks High charter school students in Homestead. One 17-year-old was arrested for bringing a gun to school, and a 16-year-old student was shot and killed by a police officer. Now the Mavericks High in North Miami Beach is making headlines for…
The jury has just received instructions for deliberating the fate of John Goodman, the Wellington polo mogul charged with vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter in the car accident that killed Scott Wilson two years ago. Closing arguments will take place this afternoon, and the jury will begin deliberating after that.Goodman…
Corey Graham Jr. walked into a Belle Glade grocery store at 6:30 a.m. on the second day of the new year to commit what should have been an ordinary crime. Graham was 19, fresh out of high school, and built like the offensive lineman he had been at Glades Central…
Don’t walk around after dark, friends warned me. Stay away from certain neighborhoods. Outsiders who have not spent much time in Belle Glade have an image of the small, rural town that is full or fear. But I visited the city on the western edge of Palm Beach County several…
Once in a blue moon, even the most cynical among us find cause to celebrate. This year’s legislative session in Tallahassee provided some unexpected victories for the little guys and defeats for the corporate interests that normally enjoy free rein in Florida. Two of the most shocking losers of 2012:…
Gov. Rick Scott was so eager to pass a car insurance reform bill last week that he sent personal thank-you notes to the lawmakers who supported it. The personal injury protection (PIP) insurance bill was a cornerstone of his legislative agenda. “This is a bill that delivers on my promise…
Let’s say you’re sleeping with a multimillionaire who’s on trial for DUI manslaughter, and you also happen to be the defendant’s adopted daughter and trust fund beneficiary. No one expects you to be an unbiased witness. Yet Heather Colby’s testimony in the John Goodman trial yesterday reached new heights of…
Lisa Pembleton doesn’t drink. Neither do her friends. “I don’t hang out with those kind of people,” she said on the witness stand in a West Palm Beach courtroom today. Her sobriety is just one of many stark differences between Pembleton, a horse trainer and student of the equestrian sport…
Drinking games. They’re superfun until you’re sitting in a courtroom on trial for DUI manslaughter, trying to explain why you blew through a stop sign, slammed into another car with such force that it flipped into a drainage ditch, and left the driver to drown.But Wellington polo mogul John Goodman…
The Broward-based 1-800-411-PAIN Referral Service and other companies that solicit clients who have been in car accidents got a legislative kick in the knees Friday, but they are still standing.A bill designed to cut down on personal injury protection (PIP) insurance fraud passed the state Senate with the enthusiastic backing…
As an 18-year-old vomited, lost control of his bowels, and died slowly in a West Palm Beach juvenile jail cell last July, guards refused to call 911 for more than six hours. A supervisor on duty allegedly thought Eric Perez was faking his illness, although the teenager had twice injured…
A bizarre showdown is unfolding in Tallahassee this week. Advocates for parents — including the Florida PTA and Parents Across America — are lobbying vehemently against a bill that’s supposed to “empower them.”The proposed legislation would let parents vote to turn a failing public school into a charter school. Opponents…
Improbable as it may sound, there is an entire television series devoted to people who hire hit men to kill their loved/hated ones. The Investigation Discovery show Nothing Personal is hosted by Steve Schirripa, the jovial comedian who played Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos. Now he uses his mobster street cred to narrate true-crime…
Wellington polo mogul John Goodman goes on trial in a West Palm Beach courtroom tomorrow, charged with driving drunk and causing the car accident that killed 23-year-old Scott Wilson in 2010.It’s been nearly two years since a New Times cover story dug deep into the case, so here’s a refresher…
Palm Beach County’s first murder of 2012 broke Belle Glade’s heart. Jimmy McMillan, 49, was gunned down in the grocery store his family had owned for seven decades. He was a generous man and champion fisherman, known for giving away food and letting longtime customers buy on credit. His death…
When Tiger Woods tees off at the Honda Classic golf tournament in Palm Beach Gardens today, a sign of local political rancor will be flying over his head.An airplane banner proclaiming “The Sheriff Is a Thief — PBSOTalk.com” is slated to circle over PGA National, after making appearances at the…
If you’ve always wanted to learn how to polish silver, fold linens, or serve a six-course dinner to spoiled rich kids, here’s your chance.The City of West Palm Beach is offering free, totally unironic classes on “How to Work in a Wealthy Home.” You too can scrub the bathtub and…
Gov. Rick Scott will deliver his annual speech at the Forum Club in West Palm Beach tomorrow. In an attempt to appear human, he likely will tout his much-trumpeted $1 billion proposed increase in funding for public schools. But that proposal isn’t as rosy as it sounds. Here are a…
