Michael Getts (CREDIT: Lee County Sheriff’s Office) A North Fort Myers man sentenced to more than nine years in prison for his involvement in a deadly drunken-driving crash will get a new trial. Michael Getts, 40, was arrested in October of 2016 after an April 2016 crash on NE Pine Island Road caused the death of 36-yead-old Lonnie Retherford, a passenger in his car. The two had been drinking prior to getting on the road. Getts struck a second vehicle, driven by then 20-year-old Francis Paulette III, who was also drunken driving, and was eventually arrested. Getts was found guilty by a jury of at least three counts of DUI, but an order from the Second District Court of Appeals has vacated the guilty verdict for the vehicular homicide. According to the order from the Second District Court of Appeals, “the trial court erroneously denied Getts his right to present evidence relevant to his defense, we reverse and remand for a new trial on the vehicular homicide charge.” The determination was made because the trial excluded the testimony of Paulette, who had said he didn’t remember the crash. “While evidence of the van driver’s intoxication, without more, may be insufficient to establish that he caused the accident beyond a reasonable doubt, it is sufficient to introduce a reasonable doubt as to whether Getts caused the accident,” the order states. A hearing is set for April 22.