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January 06, 2009 |  |
Man convicted after Internet hoax leads to deadly shooting |  |
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Source: Associated Press RIVERHEAD, New York (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 5 to 15 years. He was allowed to remain free on bail until sentencing. "My son is finally vindicated," Joanne Cicciaro, the victim's mother, said afterward. "The truth prevailed. ... It was never about race. It was about individuals and individuals' actions." The ruling came on the fourth day of deliberations following an emotional three-week trial that attracted national attention after White's 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 in 2006 when he brandished a gun after a group of angry white 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 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. Jurors also found White guilty of criminal possession of a weapon.
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