State Supreme Court orders new trial in homeless man’s death

Thomas Daugherty, who was convicted of beating a homeless man to death in Fort Lauderdale with a baseball bat 11 years ago, is entitled to a new trial because of a fundamental flaw in the jury instructions at his 2008 trial, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Daugherty, now 28, was originally sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder in the death of Norris Gaynor, 35. But his sentence was changed to 40 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that life in prison could not be a mandatory punishment for offenders who were under 18 at the time their crimes were committed. Daugherty was 17 when the beating took place on Jan. 12, 2006.

Thursday’s ruling by the Florida Supreme Court concluded that the jury might have come to a different decision had it received the proper instruction on the distinctions between second-degree murder and manslaughter.

The beating of Gaynor and two other homeless men sparked national outrage. The beating of one of the men was captured on surveillance video outside the Florida Atlantic University campus in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Daugherty will also get a new trial on charges related to the other beatings, the state Supreme Court decided.

Daugherty’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb said he is hoping to reach an agreement with prosecutors to resolve the case. Daugherty has spent 11 years in custody and, if sentenced to a 15-year prison term, would be eligible for release as early as next year.

“I would hope that the State Attorney’s Office would look at the facts of this case and determine that justice can be served without a retrial and without an overly harsh sentence,” Gottlieb said.

Ron Ishoy, spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office, offered no indication that such a resolution was likely.

“We are disappointed in the de-