Greenacres men plead
guilty in 1998 fatal beating
By Larry Keller,
palmbeachpost.com from the Web, August 23, 2005
WEST PALM BEACH -- The retrial
of two Greenacres men charged with killing a man because he was gay came to an
abrupt and dramatic end on Monday when both entered guilty pleas and apologized
to the dead man's family.
Bryan Donahue, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder motivated by hatred
and was sentenced to 30 years in prison by Circuit Judge Krista Marx.
Crying and sniffling, Donahue turned toward the family of Steven Goedereis, the
man he killed. "I'm very sorry for what I did," he said.
Less than an hour earlier, his co-defendant, William Dodge, 24, pleaded guilty
to third-degree murder motivated by hatred, and Marx sentenced him to 16 years.
He, too, apologized to Goedereis' family.
Both men get credit for the more than seven years they have been in custody.
"We're satisfied," said Steven Goedereis, whose son was 29 when he was beaten to
death. "The system works... we can move on with our lives."
Goedereis said he thought Donahue's and Dodge's apologies were sincere. "I
think Steven would be satisfied if, when they get out, they're positive
citizens."
The retrial began last week. Donahue's attorney, Bert Winkler, told jurors
that Goedereis made a flirtatious comment to Donahue in April 1998.
Donahue, 16 at the time, punched Goedereis, stole his backpack and got his buddy
Dodge. The two then beat up the 118-pound waiter.
Both defendants denied they singled out Goedereis because he was gay. But
prosecutor Renelda Mack said Monday that he was "intentionally selected because
of his sexual orientation."
Two separate juries heard the case in one trial in 1999, a procedure that was
repeated in the retrial. One panel convicted Donahue of robbery and
second-degree murder.
The other convicted Dodge of third-degree murder. Both were deemed to be
hate crimes. Donahue got 50 years, including 30 years for the robbery.
Dodge was sentenced to 25 years.
But an appeals court, while affirming Donahue's robbery conviction, reversed
both men's murder convictions.
The court ruled that defense attorneys should have been allowed to present
testimony of a medical expert who would have said that paramedics contributed to
Goedereis' death by failing to properly place a breathing tube down his trachea.
At the retrial this week, defense attorneys planned to have Ronald Wright,
former Broward County medical examiner, testify about errors made by paramedics
in intubating Goedereis. But prosecutor Mack phoned Dodge's attorney
Friday night with a plea offer: 17 years. "We wanted 15, and we
compromised on 16 years," said the attorney, Mitchell Beers.
Mack then offered a plea deal of 30 years on Monday morning to Donahue, to run
concurrently with the same sentence he's serving on the robbery. Donahue's
attorney, Winkler, said his client took the offer, knowing that sentencing
guidelines called for a maximum of 34 years, but that the judge could depart
upward from that figure.
Had Donahue not accepted the plea offer, Winkler would have asked for a mistrial
because one of the jurors told others on Friday that Donahue was being retried
for the killing. Jurors are not supposed to discuss the case while the
trial is under way.
Families of both defendants cried outside the courtroom afterward.
"I visit him every week," said Louella Craig, one of Donahue's grandmothers.
"I know he's sorry for what he did. I've even visited Steven Goedereis'
grave, that's how sorry I am."
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