Black Man Convicted Of Murdering White Boy After “Fear Of Lynching” Defense Fails
He claimed that stories his grandfather had told to him about the KKK had him freaked out. Even though he lived in Long Island.
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) - A jury Saturday convicted a black man of killing a white teen during a racially charged confrontation outside the man’s home despite his claims that he feared a lynch mob had come to attack his family.
Jurors found John White, 54, guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daniel Cicciaro. White faces a prison term of five to 15 years. He was allowed to remain free on bail until sentencing.
Defense attorney Fred Brewington said White planned to appeal and called the verdict “disappointing for African-Americans” in the area, a predominantly white community on eastern Long Island.
“You have to survive in Suffolk County, where people can roll up on your house at 11:30 at night, threaten you, threaten your family, curse at you, call you a (N-word), and you’ve got to take it,” he said.
The victim’s mother, Joanne, said the verdict showed that her son “is finally vindicated.”
“The truth prevailed. … It was never about race. It was about individuals and individuals’ actions,” she said.
Outside the courtroom, the family’s supporters chanted “Dan-O! Dan-O!” and they honked their horns as they drove away.
The ruling came on the fourth day of deliberations following an emotional three-week trial that attracted national attention after his defense attorneys invoked the nation’s violent racist past in arguing the shooting was justified.
White had testified he grew up hearing stories from family members about how the Ku Klux Klan torched his grandfather’s business in Alabama in the 1920s and feared a similar attack was about to happen.
White testified during the trial that he was trying to protect his family on Aug. 9, 2006 when he brandished a gun after a group of teenagers turned up at his house late at night to fight his son.
White admitted on the witness stand that he shot Cicciaro, but that the pistol went off accidentally as Cicciaro grabbed for it. Cicciaro, 17, had a blood-alcohol reading above the legal limit for driving.
Prosecutor James Chalifoux said White should have simply locked the door and called police—and not gone outside to confront the teenagers with a gun.
He sought to downplay the racial element, telling jurors the Brooklyn- raised White never said anything about a lynch mob until the case went to trial, and noted that the Klan attack on his grandfather occurred 30 years before he was born.
The confrontation came after his 19-year-old son, Aaron, was asked to leave a beer bash at a friend’s house. A female guest had complained about a bogus MySpace posting claiming Aaron White wanted to rape her.
He denied making the threat but left the party. Cicciaro and his friends then called the teenager on his cell phone to continue the dispute, allegedly making threats that culminated when they arrived at the White home shortly after 11 p.m.
White also was convicted of a weapons possession misdemeanor that carries a penalty of two to seven years in prison, which would likely run concurrently with the other sentence.
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Lame defense or not, I’m going to admit something here, let me preface this by saying that I grew up in the “country”. If a gang of drunk teenagers show up at my house late at night and are aiming to beat my son, regardless of what they say he did or didn’t do(I’ll deal with my son and if it was illegal then he’ll pay for it) I don’t see anything wrong with stepping out on the front porch with a shotgun and telling them the first one that tries some shit gets both barrels. If the kid did lunge for the gun then he got what he deserved and it should serve as a lesson for the other cocky teenagers out there that think they rule the world. I’ll tell you this, someone came up our driveway when I was in elementary school, it was about midnight and we had a long driveway away from the road. My dad went all Chuck Norris and snuck up on them and shoved a shotgun in their cheek through the window of their car while the were casing the place. He brought him inside and took his drivers license and called his daddy on him. The kid had been known to steal stuff from people’s houses; you never heard of him doing that again after that night. That was back in the early 80’s, I guess my Dad would be sent to jail for it now or at the least be sued. I know this, I would rather kill some asshole trying to harm my family and do the time rather than letting it happen. I ain’t hiding from teenagers, just ain’t going to happen. Sometimes it takes cops 20 minutes or more to respond but it only take seconds for some shit to hit the fan.
December 23rd, 2007 at 1:17 amWops ARE kinda silly (like clowns) when they get drunk.
Gonna hafta side with the old man on this one.
I would have shot that little prick too.
December 23rd, 2007 at 2:54 amI have to agree with Mike and Leatherneck. Though Leatherneck I think I’d have called them white punks on dope.
December 23rd, 2007 at 3:04 amHe better watch his ass now, somebody might get ‘made’ on his ass.
December 23rd, 2007 at 4:33 amMr White got ripped, but that’s N.Y. justice.
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:01 amAt least were down one smart ass 17 yr. old punk, should have been more.
Somehow I know that dead kid’s parents are to blame as well…”someone’s Honor” isn’t that tribal warfare BS.
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:08 amMr. White did the correct thing by trying to protect his son; however, I hate when any person uses the race card. It is like crying wolf. Eventually people will not respond to it.
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:04 amSo the dude protected his home and his son from a drunken punk. The drunken white trash got stupid and got what he deserved. And now the dude is going to jail? Yeah, that’s NY justice all right. POS judges. POS prosecutors. Justice is suppose to be blind not politically correct. But more than that, justice is suppose to be JUST. Don’t see any of that here. Why not lock up the judge and the prosecutor instead…and Mr “White”-boy’s family? You can issue them all some KY jelly on the way out of the court room, just for some good TV show and tell.
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:11 amI’m afraid I agree with everything said above. Amadou Dialo (hope I spelled it right) comes to mind, NY has never given blacks any justice. This case is a perfect example. “Feel free to commit murder against blacks!” The precedent has been set, and expect more blacks to be targets in that part of the country because of it.
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:28 amJavan, uh I don’t see how this sets a precedent of “feel free to commit murder against blacks”, especially given that nobody black was killed in the making of this article…
December 23rd, 2007 at 2:57 pmEveryone’s pretty much said what I was going to say: Stupid defense, but correct action.
Step on my property, and you’re liable to get your head blown off, beat down, or anything in between.
Stories like these are why I will never move up north.
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:44 pmlet me see, they post a blog on a myspace website that wasnt true of mr.whites son wanting to rape that white girl at the party. The son is told to leave the party because the white girl is un-easy at the party all because of the prank by these white teenagers. the son refuses to shake their hand while leaving the party so they chase the boy home to his house. he gets his father and the father gets his handgun instead of his shotgun to try to scare the kids off. the drunken teens block the drive way with 2 cars and after the father turns to go into the house… one teen attacks him and in the struggle is shot. the other teens put the bleeding teen in their car and drive off. they dont arrive to the hospital for 80 minutes(what could they have been doing or getting rid of before gettin this teen to the hospital?)when it doesnt take all but 20 minutes of less to get there? two vechicles at the seen and the suffolk police dont search the second car that was at the scene!!! Now tell me what all seems wrong with this picture as it keeps going down hill like a bad mudball?
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:06 pm