Posted on 12/21/2007 7:33:43 AM PST by RDTF
RIVERHEAD, New York (CNN) -- The tragic story that began with a sick joke on the Internet is coming to a close as a Riverhead, New York, jury deliberates the fate of 53-year-old John White, on trial for killing a friend of his son.
White is accused of shooting 17-year old Daniel Cicciaro in the face on August 9, 2006, outside his Long Island home after a heated exchange with Cicciaro and his friends.
Cicciaro died that night, and White was arrested. He is charged with second-degree manslaughter.
The trial has brought out allegations of racism and revenge. White, who is African-American, maintains he was protecting his family from a white lynch mob and says the gun discharged accidentally.
Prosecutors disagree, saying White should have called police but instead deliberately chose to confront the boys outside his home with a .32-caliber Beretta.
Riverhead police say this all started with an Internet prank sent from the MySpace page of White's son, 20-year-old Aaron. Under his screen name, a threatening message was sent to a teenage girl who was a close friend of Daniel Cicciaro.
The night Cicciaro was killed, he was at a party with the girl when they spotted Aaron White. According to court testimony, Cicciaro became angry and White was asked to leave. Aaron White testified that after he left the party, Cicciaro and a male friend called him on his cell phone, saying to him, "Get back to this party you n****r."
Aaron White says he then went home and received more calls from Cicciaro and his friends, telling him they were coming to his house to kill him. He then woke his father, who grabbed his handgun and waited for the boys to arrive.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Aaron White says he then went home and received more calls from Cicciaro and his friends, telling him they were coming to his house to kill him. He then woke his father, who grabbed his handgun and waited for the boys to arrive.
Golly, sounds like he was “in fear for his life”, regardless of confronting them, calling the cops or anything else. Give me a break.
According to the killer’s lawyer, it is the dead white guy’s fault.
***White, who is African-American***
Paradox
MySpace.......what a sh!tsty
Here in Seattle, the neighborhood of “White Center” is a minority area.
Any person, who neglects to get gun safety training should not have such weapons, and criminal acts committed as a result of such neglect have no excuse IMHO.
HF
According to the story, assuming it's accurate, it was. The "dead white guy" intruded on the killer's property, under circumstances in which a reasonable man would assume he intended to cause harm. He had no business being there, and had he not gone there intending to provoke a confrontation, he'd still be alive.
It's a shame he's dead... he was just a hotheaded teenager angered by what he perceived as a threat to his girl. But from the facts as reported, he brought it on himself.
this sounds like the issue: outside his Long Island home
Yeah, not familiar enough with Long Island and NYC laws, I thought it wasn’t even legal to HAVE a gun there, let alone defend oneself.
If I’m called outside my house in Colorado like that, I’ll be armed when I step out the door, and it’ll be with a scatter gun. I won’t miss any of them.
Verify the gun is not loaded, then treat as if it is loaded.
I’d say My Space has become the single most dangerous website around.
I would suggest keeping it loaded and in your control and concealed. Do not take it out unless you are in fear of your life and then use it.
In Texas Mr. White would walk.
I agree.
Don't threaten people and then show up at their homes. If someone did something like this to me, my reaction would be very similar.
Although I would notify the police and ask them to stop by to defuse the situation. If they didn't show up, then it's highly likely that under the same circumstances some loudmouth teenager would end up just as dead.
L
:::Sigh::: I think people who perpetrate hoaxes via the internet should be caned (for starters).
If the white guys just showed up, you might have a point. But the shooter had 20 minutes notice. Plenty of time to think, to reason, to calm down, to call 911, to leave, whatever.
The shooter and his son chose to walk outside and both were holding guns. As far as I know, they were the only ones armed with any kind of weapon.
The shooter was charged with second-degree manslaughter. He's lucky it wasn't first degree murder.
If the gun had gone off and the bullet ricocheted and killed someone, I can see accidental discharge. But he shot him in the face. You gotta be pointing a loaded gun right there to make that happen.
A lot of mistakes were made by both sides. But the killing did not need to happen. The shooter chose to "make a stand". While I respect that, he has to be held responsible for the result of that choice.
That would have made this story totally different. But the shooter didn't call 911 and didn't call 911 even after he shot the kid in the face -- he called his lawyer instead.
The shooter and his son could have left and driven to the police station. They could have turned off the lights and not answered the door (this works for me at Halloween).
Not "manly" options, I know. But options nevertheless. Overlooked options I'm sure the jury are considering.
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