John Goodman released from Palm Beach County Jail

UPDATE: John Goodman has been released from jail and is back home under house arrest

EARLIER STORY:

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- After a hearing that lasted much of the day Tuesday, Judge Jeffrey Colbath ruled that John Goodman can be returned to house arrest.

Staff at the Palm Beach County Jail say Goodman should be released from the jail sometime Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors wanted to revoke Goodman's in house arrest status after they tried to prove he tampered with his ankle monitoring device.   

Judge Colbath said the prosecution had the burden of proof and didn't meet it. He said the device had no pry marks or evidence a tool was used to break it open. "To break it open by blunt force certainly would have left evidence on Mr. Goodman's ankle," the judge said.

The judge said it could be that Goodman broke the bracelet open but he doubted that.

Judge Colbath also took into consideration that Goodman had no motivation to break the monitor because "he was sitting... in cushy accommodations while his appeal was going on. Why on earth would he want to do that unless he was going to make some elaborate plan for escape, and there's no evidence he was trying to do that."

Goodman was taken back to jail in October after deputies were alerted that something happened to the device.

He had been on house arrest in his Wellington mansion after being convicted of DUI manslaughter in March.

Goodman was arrested in February of 2010 after he crashed into a car being driven by Scott Wilson. Wilson died at the scene of the crash.

NewsChannel 5's Katie Johnson contributed to this report