Guilty verdict for black dad in shooting death of white teen in Long Island (Klan reference invoked)

The New York Daily News ^ | December 22, 2007 | NICHOLAS HIRSHON, JOE GOULD and RICH SCHAPIRO

[robertpaulsen]

6 white men, 5 white women, and 1 black man. The jury was deadlocked, then finally reached a verdict.

I'm sure we'll find out in the next day or two why the jury deadlocked.

[Scotsman will be Free]

You are ignorant of tactics and survival. You are a casualty waiting to happen.
I have seen the elephant, and I don’t need an ignoramus telling me how to handle this type of situation.

[robertpaulsen]

"What if the colors of the parties to this incident were reversed?"

Jesse and Al would have showed up. The NAACP and the Black Panthers would have staged a march, singing We Shall Overcome. The high school would have held a candlelight vigil.

A white Mr. White would have been charged and convicted of first degree murder. Then he would go to federal court to be convicted of a hate crime. He would be successfully sued for millions in civil court, along with the city, the police department, the high school, the parents who hosted the party, and the MySpace website.

THAT'S what would have happened.

[El Gato]

It definately won’t deescalate the situation and probably enflamed it.

A lot of folks magically calm down at the sight of a gun in the hands of those they are threatening.

Not always of course, and especially not those who have self medicated themselves into a semi-stupor.

[spunkets]

"A man comes out with a gun and tells you to leave his property, you leave."

Not in NY and the punks knew that. That's what gave the little punk the faux balls to slap the gun away in the first place. Even though their intent was to commit a class C felony, they were free to go about their business, because NY requires victims to submit to criminal conspiracy and mob action.

[El Gato]

How can you claim “self defense” if you did it by accident?

Umm, you had the gun for self defense, but did not intend to shoot at that time. Either version of events, that the kid lunged at him, or that the kid tried to slap the gun away, supports the idea of an accidental discharge.

[spunkets]

""My son is finally vindicated," the teen's mother, Joanne Cicciaro, said. "The truth prevailed."

No _itch, your son had conspired to, and was intent on committing a Class C felony. He caused Mr White to respond in fear to your punk kid's actions in the middle of the night in a way he was neither trained, nor prepared to handle.

"Cicciaro's relatives started honking their horns in the parking lot."

Hurray! Thugs and criminals can still operate with impunity in your liberal hell hole.

[El Gato]

White, over-reacted by introducing firearms into a situation that probably would have resulted in a just a fist fight and at the worst a few emergency room stitches and ice packs.

He was supposed to just let the teenagers (but old enough to be soldiers) beat him and his son up? Glad I live in Texas.

[mamelukesabre]

If you fired accidentally, you are negligent. And therefore guilty.

[Partisan Gunslinger]

Not in NY and the punks knew that. That's what gave the little punk the faux balls to slap the gun away in the first place. Even though their intent was to commit a class C felony, they were free to go about their business, because NY requires victims to submit to criminal conspiracy and mob action.

Exactly. I'm sure in Mr White's case it was son first, laws second, but now he has to pay for liberal laws.

[bvw]

... the illegal gun ...

You don't have to say more.

[bvw]

Depends on the situation. Say a Korean shopkeeper pulls out a shotgun when a gang of hoods is milling about the outside of his store in a threatening way. Say he or his wife "dissed" one of them earlier. The gun accidentally goes off, as one of the hoods makes a move for it. What say you then?

Or if the hoods were in the process of robbing him, and the gun accidentally goes off? What then?

[Partisan Gunslinger]

But it still doesn't change the fact that you cannot shoot someone who isn't threatening you without facing legal charges. Read the entire thread again. I think you missed the big picture. Mr. White ADMITTED to "accidentally" firing the gun. That is manslaughter -- NOT self-defense. That is what Mr. White got convicted of and it is immaterial what you or I think...

Nothing is immaterial. We're put on this earth to make choices. What his lawyer resorted to in court doesn't matter as far as what happened that night. And I again say that you take a gang to a man's house and threaten his son, your life is in your hands an it's nobody's fault but your own, liberal courts notwithstanding.

[spunkets]

"If you fired accidentally, you are negligent. And therefore guilty."

Mr White was forced to act in a way he wasn't prepared to under severe duress, in the middle of the night, at his home and on his premises, and to a mob intent on committing a Class C felony. Any accidents that Mr White may have caused are the responsibility of those punks in the mob that forced White's actions in the first place.

[El Gato]

To do so is just plain stupid and lacks good common sense in my opinion. We do not live in the Wild West and quite frankly that is a good thing.

Not necessarily. Dodge City was safer than Washington DC of today, or the New York City of the "Wild West" era.

Some of do live in the "wild west" and find it a nice peaceful, and mostly safe place.

[Stoat]

 

Going outside with a drawn gun into a situation like that suggests a profound ignorance of the law on the part of Mr. White, and ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it.

May not be the law in Texas.

It seems that there are many posters here who think that laws in New York are the same as those in the Lone Star State.  Although in many cases it would certainly be nice if that were the case, unfortunately it's not.

[El Gato]

#2 -- like some of the posters said, make sure you say, "I intentionally shot the guy because I feared for my life."

Now that depends on the situation and the jurisdiction. Certainly don't say it if the facts indicate otherwise. But it's not necessary in enlightened states which allow for use of potentially deadly force in defensive of more than just one's life or limb.

[Stoat]

 You take a gang to a man’s house and threaten that man’s child then you have your life in your own hands.

OF COURSE you do, particularly in places with saner self-defense laws than what exist in Long Island, New York.  Unfortunately, Long Island is not Texas, and the laws aren't the same.

[El Gato]

He could have called 911 and the cops might show up - after fifteen minutes or so.

On the basis of a telephone threat? Or was it a warning? The one might get you a detective in the morning. The other probably would get you a squad car..sometime.

But the call should have been made anyway. Mr. Horn in Texas was *on the phone* with the 911 dispatcher, until he stepped out of his house, was confronted with the burglars in his yard, and shot the buggers. He even charged his shotgun while still on the phone.

[Stoat]

No kidding. What a bad bad sheeple he was!”

Cute.  The jails and prisons are full of people who acted outside of the local laws either through arrogance, belligerence or stupidity, and Mr. White will now be joining them.