佛州难道乱伦不犯罪吗？
A wealthy Florida man has adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend as a daughter
in a move critics say will protect the man's assets during an upcoming
lawsuit surrounding a deadly car accident.
Polo Club Palm Beach founder John Goodman, 48, adopted his longtime partner
Heather Laruso Hutchins in October, The Palm Beach Post reports.
The strategy could shore up Goodman's wealth as he confronts a wrongful
death lawsuit filed by the parents of Scott Patrick Wilson, The Associated
Press says. Wilson was killed in 2010 when Goodman allegedly ran a stop sign
. The trial begins March 27.
Goodman had previously set up a trust for his two minor children. If Wilson'
s parents win their civil suit, they cannot receive any compensation from
the trust, The Post reports.
Hutchins, as Goodman's third legal child, is now entitled to a third of the
money in the trust. However, another court could later rule that Hutchins
isn't entitled to a share of the trust, Fox News reports.
A lawyer for the Wilson family claims it's a ploy for Goodman to keep money
for himself. But Dan Bachi, Goodman's lawyer, told The Palm Beach Post, the
adoption is to guarantee his children's future and denied that it was
spurred by the lawsuit.
Florida attorney Charlotte Danciu said in an interview with TV station WPEC
that Goodman is abusing the state's adoption law, which is designed to
create parent-child relationships.
Even Circuit Court Judge Glenn Kelley, who approved Goodman's adoption
application in Miami-Dade County, described the request as "border[ing] on
the surreal," and said it put the court in a "legal twilight zone."
Sobriety tests revealed that Goodman was driving with a blood-alcohol level
two times above the legal limit on the night Wilson died. Besides the civil
case, he faces a March trial for vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, and
leaving the scene of a crime. Those charges carry a sentence of up to 30
years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.
