Lauderdale real estate investor sued for OD death at condo
Real estate investor called negligent

BY VANESSA BLUM

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

March 17, 2008

A wrongful death lawsuit accuses a Fort Lauderdale real estate entrepreneur of negligence in the fatal drug overdose of a guest at his oceanfront penthouse in 2006.

Rhode Island attorney Kathleen Golini, the dead man's mother, says Brian Neiman brought her son to his home Sept. 30, 2006, after meeting him at a Hooters restaurant on Fort Lauderdale beach. Neiman, a paralegal turned real estate speculator, stood by as 25-year-old Christopher Golini consumed methadone, Xanax and cocaine and failed to respond in time when Golini lost consciousness, the lawsuit states. It was filed last week in Broward Circuit Court.

The lawsuit also accuses Neiman, 38, of obstructing an investigation by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department by destroying surveillance videos from his apartment and attempting to pay off witnesses.

In an interview, Neiman vehemently denied the charges, which he called "100 percent false." He said he and Golini met at Hooters and then drove to his penthouse apartment on the 2100 block of North Ocean Boulevard, where they had sex.

The following day, Neiman said, he found Golini in the master bedroom unconscious and choking on his own vomit. Neiman dragged Golini to the shower and tried unsuccessfully to revive him.

Golini, a 2004 graduate of Bryant University in Rhode Island, was pronounced dead at Holy Cross Hospital at 8:03 p.m. on Oct. 1.

Neiman said he called 911 promptly and stayed on the line with an operator who coached him in performing CPR on Golini.

"I tried everything I could to save her son," Neiman said. "It was probably the most scary experience I've had in my life."

The lawsuit alleges Neiman acted negligently by waiting as long as an hour and 40 minutes to call 911 and by failing to inform the operator that Golini had consumed drugs and alcohol. The suit seeks financial compensation for pain and suffering, funeral expenses and Golini's future earnings.

Former U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis, who represents Golini's parents, said the suit is about justice, not money.

"I firmly believe that Neiman caused this man's death, no different from putting the gun to his head and pulling the trigger," Lewis said.

Neiman, who has past convictions for theft and insurance fraud, made headlines in the 1990s for his involvement in a string of racial bias lawsuits. Working with lawyers, Neiman sued corporations and government agencies across South Florida and threatened them with bad publicity and boycotts unless they settled quickly out of court.

One federal judge lambasted the tactic as "legal process blackmail." Neiman ultimately pleaded guilty to practicing law without a license, and the lawyers he employed were disbarred.

Despite the controversy, Neiman was able to reinvent himself as a real estate investor. In 2001, he started a company called The Formula that buys pre-construction condos in bulk.

Neiman said he has hired his own team of lawyers and private investigators to fend off accusations related to Golini's death.

In his obituary, Golini was remembered as an avid traveler who studied Japanese culture and hoped to work in Asia in the financial industry.

"It has been a long and painful road for us," his parents said in a statement. "Christopher was a good boy who had his whole life ahead of him."