Prison for N.Y. man in racial shooting
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) - March 19, 2008 The parents of victim Daniel Cicciaro Jr., 17, were irate after
learning that John White did not receive the maximum sentence of up
to 15 years in prison.
White, 54, was convicted in December of second-degree
manslaughter and a weapons charge.
"Let's see what happens when Aaron White gets shot!" the
victim's father shouted afterward, referring to White's teenage
son.
At least 18 officers kept order in the packed courtroom; several
hundred people awaited the verdict in the hallway. Afterward,
supporters, including sobbing teenage girls, gathered with the
Cicciaro family outside the courthouse.
White was led away in handcuffs, but his attorneys planned to
seek approval from a higher court to let him remain free pending
appeal.
"I've always remained remorseful about this incident," White
told the judge.
At the trial, the defense invoked the nation's violent racist
past in arguing the shooting was justified, referring to the
teenagers as a "lynch mob."
The defense said it perceived Cicciaro's remark outside court as
a threat and demanded an immediate investigation. Prosecutors said
they were considering referring the matter to police.
White, 54, testified that he was trying to protect his family on
a hot August night in 2006 when he got his gun after a group of
angry white teenagers turned up at his house late at night to fight
his son. He claimed the weapon discharged accidentally, killing
Cicciaro.
Cicciaro, who had a blood-alcohol reading above the legal limit
for driving, was just 3 inches from the pistol when he was shot in
the face, a medical examiner testified.
White said Aaron, 19, had wakened him around 11 p.m. to tell him
he had been feuding with other teens after being asked to leave a
party and a group of the teens was headed to their house in Miller
Place, a predominantly white community on eastern Long Island.