On Wednesday, March 19, Judge Barbara Kahn of Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead sentenced John White of Miller Place, Long Island to one and a third to four years for manslaughter and a concurrent sentence of two years for illegal possession of a weapon.
White was convicted in December in the August 2006 killing of 17 year old Daniel Cicciaro Jr.
Cicciaro was one of a group of young people who came to the White home saying they were going to kill White's son Aaron and sexually attack his wife. A confrontation in front of the White home ended with the shooting of Cicciaro.
Wednesday after the sentencing Daniel Cicciaro Senior, father of the victim, said that John White got away with the shooting because he was black, adding a threat against Aaron White.
"as long as you're black and there's a problem at the end of your driveway, you can grab an illegal hand gun and shoot someone in the face and get away with it. Well lets see happens when Aaron White gets shot and see how the laws are"
Defense Attorney Fredrick Brewington called on the Suffolk D.A. to investigate threats made against Aaron White. (*)
"Throughout this case Aaron White was forced to wear a bullet proof vest. People claimed that the threats against him were fake, that this was contrived. I am asking the SuffolkDistrict Attorney to launch a full investigation and raise a question of harrassment and death threats against Mr. Aaron White by Mr. Cicciaro."
If the D.A. does not investigate by Thursday, Brewington said he planned to ask the US Attorney's Office to take the entire case.
An appeal in the case, based on instructions the judge made to the jury, was filed in State Court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, March 19.
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This report was prepared for WPKN News, heard 6:30pm Mon-Friday on WPKN 89.5 Bridgeport and WPKM 88.7 Montauk.
UPDATE: Newsday Reports - John White will be free on bail pending resolution of the appeal.
(*) Newsday, March 20:
[Suffolk District Attorney Thomas] Spota said he also asked Suffolk police to provide additional security to the Whites. Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, through a spokesman, said he ordered a patrol car to be stationed outside the home almost immediately after the sentencing and added that "it will be there as long as we feel it's necessary."
