GUILTY NY - Daniel Cicciaro, 17, shot to death, Miller Place, LI, August 2006

[MeoW333]

I really hope Mr. White gets another trial, as these kids who are posting lies on the internet should be tried. They cheer in the courtroom; get away with murder. It reminds me of the case of Megan, the girl who committed suicide due to her former friend and her mother posing as a young boy who liked her.
We are going to keep seeing more of these cases unless something is done. That's why i would like to see these internet trouble starters prosecuted.

 

[Wudge]

SNIP

It reminds me of the case of Megan, the girl who committed suicide due to her former friend and her mother posing as a young boy who liked her.
We are going to keep seeing more of these cases unless something is done. That's why i would like to see these internet trouble starters prosecuted.

Exactly

 

[accordn2me]

What are the sentencing guidelines? Does the judge have some leeway with this? Given the fact that this Mr. White is not in jail, I'm guessing that he (judge) does. Hopefully, he does and there is not a long mandatory sentence he has to impose.

 

[Wudge]

What are the sentencing guidelines? Does the judge have some leeway with this? Given the fact that this Mr. White is not in jail, I'm guessing that he (judge) does. Hopefully, he does and there is not a long mandatory sentence he has to impose.

Prior to trial, White turned down a plea deal that carried a sentencing range of from 2 to 6 years. The Judge has discretion, but I would expect his sentence to be higher than the plea deal.

 

[csds703]

Prior to trial, White turned down a plea deal that carried a sentencing range of from 2 to 6 years. The Judge has discretion, but I would expect his sentence to be higher than the plea deal.

Hopefully with the jurors admission that he felt pressured due to Christmas, leaves room for an appeal.
I can see White being charged with a gun charge of some type, but I do believe that he felt threatened and he thought he was protecting his family.

 

[csds703]

Exploding with rage moments after John White received a lenient sentence for killing Daniel Cicciaro Jr., the Selden teen's father shouted into a microphone before a crowd of onlookers and reporters, "Let's see what happens when Aaron White gets shot."

The comment about John White's son was interpreted by many people who heard it and by White's attorneys as a threat. White's attorneys demanded that prosecutors act swiftly in investigating Cicciaro's words as a possible crime. If they don't, the attorneys said they would seek to have the U.S. Attorney's office take over the case.

On Wednesday afternoon, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota informed the Southampton Police Department, which has jurisdiction over the Suffolk County Court building, about the comment. Prosecutors will wait until police act, Spota's office said. Town police officials did not return calls for comment Wednesday.
Cicciaro made the impassioned comments after saying that Judge Barbara Kahn's sentence sent a message to "society that as long as you're black and there's a car in your driveway, you can shoot somebody in the face and get away with it."

After Cicciaro made his remark about Aaron White, he continued, shouting, "And see how the laws are! Let's see what happens now, OK?"

After being informed of Cicciaro's words by a reporter, White's attorney, Frederick Brewington of Hempstead, said the comments were further proof that White's family members cannot live in peace.

"They have been terrorized ever since this incident and further terror ... is unacceptable," said Brewington as he stood beside White's wife, Sonya, and Aaron. Brewington said Aaron White was "forced" to wear a bulletproof vest to court during the trial because he had received death threats.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lithrea0320,0,7648374.story

This case just keeps getting sadder.

 

[shadowraiths]

No matter what the perspective however the inescapable facts are that a group of young men came to Mr White's home late at night. One of those young men is now dead. And that while in possession of a loaded firearm, Mr. White recklessly caused that death.

While Mr. White may be the only individual who bears criminal responsibility for the death of Daniel Cicciaro, what particularly struck me during the trial was each witness' minimization of their own actions on the night in question. There are many people who some might call moral accessories in the death of Daniel Cicciaro. These individuals did not hold the gun, but each had a part in this young man's death.

[...]

For the class C non-violent felony of reckless manslaughter in the second degree, an inteterminate sentence of one and a third to four years.

For the class D violent felony of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, a determinate sentence of two years, with one and a half hears of post-release supervision, to be served concurrently with the prior sentence.

There is a mandatory surcharge of $270, a DNA data bank surcharge of $50.

Counsels, please advise your client of his right of appeal.

PDF of Judge's statement: click here

Post sentencing videos: click here


Comment: I imagine the sentence felt like a slap in the face to the Cicciaro's. Still, I totally agree with the judge. And I absolutely understand why White feared for his and his family's lives. Sadly, I fear this will not be the last we hear of this tragic case.

 

[csds703]

Daniel Cicciaro Sr. said Thursday that his angry courthouse outburst the day before "obviously wasn't a death threat" aimed at Aaron White, the son of the man convicted of killing Cicciaro's son in a 2006 confrontation outside the Whites' home in Miller Place.

"Now they're saying I threatened him," Cicciaro said after emerging from his house in Port Jefferson Station shortly before noon. "It's amazing how they turned it [John White's trial] into race, and now they're trying to say I threatened him [Aaron White]. It's ridiculous."

He went on to say, "I was just reiterating that what if the tables were turned, how would this have unfolded?"
On Wednesday, the elder Cicciaro erupted in the Riverhead courthouse after John White, who is African-American, was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison for the shooting death of Daniel Cicciaro Jr., 17, who was white.

On that night in August 2006, the younger Cicciaro and four other teens had come to the Whites' home to confront Aaron White. John White, who said he believed he and his family were in danger, said the gun went off accidentally when Cicciaro Jr. lunged for it.

Wednesday, during a tirade before the scrum of reporters and television cameras in the Riverhead courthouse, Daniel Cicciaro Sr. shouted, "Let's see what happens when Aaron White gets shot." Afterward, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota informed both Suffolk County police and the Southampton Police Department, which has jurisdiction over the courthouse, about the comment.

Suffolk police stationed an officer outside the Whites' home in Miller Place, and that police presence remained on Thursday.

In his comments to reporters Thursday, a noticeably calmer Cicciaro also addressed the possibility that John White could be released from jail on $200,000 cash bail as early as Thursday. A Brooklyn appellate court ruled Wednesday that White could remain free pending the appeal of his December conviction for second-degree manslaughter and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

"After what happened in the courtroom yesterday, I wouldn't put it past him. We kind of expected another bombshell like that," Cicciaro said.

"What they should do is give him all his bail money back, don't give him any jail time, let him go, give him his passport back, let him enjoy life," he continued, his tone laden with sarcasm.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-liwhite0321,0,1563785.story

 

[OkieGranny]

From December 2010:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/24/nyregion/24commute.html?_r=0

Gov. David A. Paterson announced on Thursday that he had commuted the prison sentence of a black man who fatally shot an unarmed white teenager outside the man’s house in August 2006, weighing in on a case where the issue of race on Long Island became as much fodder for debate as the man’s innocence or guilt...

Frederick K. Brewington, a defense lawyer who represented Mr. White during the trial, said a group of advocates for Mr. White made an application to Mr. Paterson for a pardon, “outlining the reasons, what the particulars were and the value to the community.” He added that supporters of Mr. White had organized a letter-writing campaign to urge the governor to consider Mr. White’s case.

A commutation lessens the severity of the punishment. A pardon excuses or forgives the offense itself.