Deliberations continue in DiMartino slaying trial
A Suffolk jury is to continue deliberations Wednesday in the murder trial of a Queens man who allegedly shot and killed Nesconset attorney James DiMartino.
Darnell Festus, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 20, 2008, slaying of DiMartino, 44, in the parking lot of a Commack restaurant.
Prosecutors say DiMartino's business partner, Ronald Thornton, paid Festus and two other people $10,000 to kill DiMartino, a husband and father of four daughters, to cover up mortgage frauds committed by Thornton.
In closing arguments Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Nancy Clifford said Festus signed a statement in which he confessed to killing DiMartino. But Festus tried to "distance himself" from the murder by saying he had intended only to rob DiMartino, then shot him when DiMartino approached him, Clifford said.
"Why would Ronald Thornton pay [Festus] $10,000 to rob someone?" Clifford asked the jury of seven women and five men. "Why would he have to pay some people to come out from Queens to rob his business partner?"
Thornton, 39, of Nesconset, was convicted in March of first-degree murder for DiMartino's death. He is serving a life sentence at an upstate prison.
Monique Randall, 30, of St. Albans, Queens, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her role in DiMartino's death and is awaiting sentencing. She testified against both Thornton and Festus.
A third person, Donovan Raysor, 22, of St. Albans, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and is awaiting trial. Randall is Raysor's former girlfriend.
Festus' attorney, Jason Bassett of Central Islip, said Festus' statement to police and an apology he wrote to DiMartino's widow, Diane, were coerced by detectives.
He said security videos, cell phone records and other evidence presented at trial by prosecutors "failed to prove that Darnell Festus was part of any conspiracy" to kill DiMartino.
There were no eyewitnesses to the early afternoon shooting, and the murder weapon was never found, Bassett said.
"They haven't been able to prove Darnell Festus pulled the trigger," he said.
Remembering 9/11: Where things stand now As we remember those we lost on 9/11, we're looking at the ongoing battle to secure long term protection for first responders and the latest twists and turns in the cases of the accused terrorists.
Remembering 9/11: Where things stand now As we remember those we lost on 9/11, we're looking at the ongoing battle to secure long term protection for first responders and the latest twists and turns in the cases of the accused terrorists.
