Paterson says he regrets not talking with family

Gov. David A. Paterson said Friday he regretted not speaking with the family of Daniel Cicciaro Jr. before he decided to commute the sentence of John White in the racially tinged case, and that he telephoned and talked with them Friday morning for 55 minutes.

"There were some issues that were raised by Mrs. Cicciaro that I will think about over the holidays," Paterson told reporters, without going into detail about the conversation.

Still, Paterson said that even if he had spoken to the family while his office was studying a request for a pardon, it would not have changed his decision to commute White's sentence. Paterson's office said Thursday that the governor was aware of the family's statements about the case during White's trial and sentencing.

A spokeswoman said Paterson spoke to both to Joanne Cicciaro and her ex-husband Daniel Cicciaro Sr.

Asked why he decided to commute White's sentence in a case that turned a spotlight on race relations on Long Island, Paterson pointed to the judge's decision not to give White the maximum sentence.

It was "a signal to me from the judiciary that his further incarceration on a situation such as this does not serve any public interest," Paterson said.

Asked if he thought his decision would ignite racial tensions, Paterson said, "I actually hope it would bring about peace in an area that does seem to have that kind of conflict."

One of White's lawyers said Friday that while the Miller Place man is happy to be home for Christmas, he did not get from Paterson everything he wanted: a full pardon and clearing of his name.

White's legal team had applied for a pardon, but instead Paterson commuted White's sentence to time served, leaving the conviction in place, said Paul Gianelli of Hauppauge, one of White's trial attorneys.

"This is a little less than a pardon," said Gianelli, who helped put together the clemency application.

A pardon would have wiped White's criminal record clean. The commutation frees White but leaves him with a felony record.

That means White can't apply for a pistol license. It would also affect his ability to get other state licenses if he needed them. As a foreman at a New York City paving company, however, White doesn't need such licenses.

"In terms of employment, it won't affect him," Gianelli said Friday, adding that he expects White to regain the job he had before he reported to prison in the summer. White's employer was "extremely supportive" during both the criminal trial and the appellate process, Gianelli said.

Gianelli said he'd noticed that many of the pardons Paterson issued were for immigrants who could have been exposed to deportation if they had a criminal record when they left prison.

The Cicciaro family has declined to comment about the commutation. Daniel Cicciaro Sr. arrived at his car repair shop in Port Jefferson Station Friday morning and said he still did not want to talk about Paterson's decision.

Exactly three years after a Suffolk County jury convicted White in the shooting of Daniel Cicciaro Jr., Paterson ordered White freed from an upstate prison. White returned home on Thursday afternoon, in time for Christmas.

White, 57, thanked God and the governor after making the journey from Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility, the medium-security facility in upstate Saratoga County where he had been incarcerated.

"It's a blessing," the former asphalt company foreman said with a weak smile before mounting the steps of his Miller Place home.

The scene outside his home was quiet Friday morning. A Suffolk County Police Department patrol car came and went. White's son, Aaron, who was involved in the Aug. 9, 2006, confrontation that led to John White's conviction, came out, picked up a newspaper in the driveway, and went back inside.

Later, John White came out and told a handful of reporters, "I'm happy you guys are here, but it's Christmas and you have to respect that."

Gianelli said he was unsure what White's plans were for Christmas, because he said he was trying to leave his client alone and let him enjoy his return home.

"Knowing John, I suspect he's going to church," Gianelli said.

White began his incarceration in the state system in July and served 168 days of his 2- to 4-year sentence for second-degree manslaughter and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was held previously for about 40 days in the Suffolk County jail.

In a statement announcing his decision on Thursday, Paterson said, "Our society strives to be just, but the pursuit of justice is a difficult and arduous endeavor. While the incident and Mr. White's trial engendered much controversy and comment, and varying assessments of justice were perceived, its most common feature was heartbreak. My decision today may be an affront to some and a joy to others, but my objective is only to seek to ameliorate the profound suffering that occurred as a result of this tragic event."

The governor did not exercise his power to issue a pardon, so White's conviction stands; commutation of his sentence to time served will be void if he breaks the law again. Without the commutation, his earliest parole date would have been Feb. 15, 2012, according to the state.

Daniel Cicciaro Sr. and Joanne Cicciaro, the slain teen's mother - who both expressed deep anger in March 2008 at White's sentencing, saying he should have drawn more prison time - declined to comment as friends and supporters visited them Thursday.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota lambasted Paterson's handling of the case.

"The governor should have had the decency and the compassion to at least contact the victim's family to allow them to be heard before commuting the defendant's sentence," Spota said in a statement. The district attorney learned of White's release Thursday morning, sources close to the case said. Spota was the one who told Joanne Cicciaro of White's release, said her attorney, Jim McDonaugh of Lindenhurst.

"No one from the governor's office ever reached out to my client or her family during whatever deliberation was occurring," McDonaugh said.

The governor's office said that while Paterson did not seek the family's input before making his decision - and is not required by law to do so - he was aware of the statements they made during White's trial and sentencing.

White said he learned of his impending release at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. On Thursday, events moved rapidly: The prison's release process was under way by 8 a.m., and White walked out of Mt. McGregor at 9:23 a.m. On the car ride home with his wife, Sonia, and Michael Greys of the group 100 Black Men In Law Enforcement Who Care, he sang spirituals. At 1:30 p.m., he was at his home on Independence Way.

The fatal confrontation was set in motion after a Sound Beach party where police say alcohol was present. Daniel Cicciaro Jr. and his friends piled into cars to confront White's son, Aaron, over an Internet message they mistakenly thought he had sent, threatening to rape a girl at the party. John White, who testified that he was wakened from a deep sleep by his son who told him the group of teenagers was coming and threatening to kill him, emerged from his house with a loaded gun and ordered the teens to leave.

Within three minutes, Cicciaro had been shot in his face. It surfaced much later that another youth, pretending to be Aaron White, had written the Internet message. John White testified that the shooting happened accidentally: He was turning to retreat when Cicciaro lunged at the gun.

From the start, the case was inflamed by competing perceptions of bias: White's defense claimed he was defending himself from a "lynch mob," while Cicciaro's father said he believed White would have received much harsher punishment had he not been cast a victim of racism.

Civil rights leaders including Rev. Al Sharpton and New York State NAACP head Hazel Dukes hailed Paterson's decision while voicing sympathy for the Cicciaro family's loss. They contended White was a "model citizen," a churchgoing family man who had been defending himself and his family.

"The right to defend one's home, family and ultimately one's self is at the heart of our history and law," said Rev. Roderick Pearson, who was chairman of Suffolk's African-American advisory board at the time of the shooting.

Amber Pannhurst, 20, a graduate of Miller Place High School who knows many of the slain Cicciaro's old classmates, called Paterson's decision "ridiculous."

"I don't think anyone deserves a free ride to get off on what their punishment is," Pannhurst said. "I think he should have had to finish it."

Robert Gottlieb, a prominent Manhattan attorney, said he thought Spota was off base when he said Paterson should have notified the Cicciaro family.

"There was no need for the governor to call the family," Gottlieb said. "It's the governor's decision. He obviously thought it was the right thing to do."

Gottlieb said he thought it was, too, noting the unusual circumstances of the shooting and that White and his family thought they were about to be attacked by a mob.

Gottlieb compared Paterson's decision to not pardon White to President George W. Bush's decision to commute the sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to then-Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators for his role in compromising the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Like White, Libby remains a convicted felon as a result of that decision.

"That's a personal decision the governor makes," Gottlieb said. "The governor has absolute and total discretion whether to pardon or commute a sentence."

The existence of a criminal record not only affects a person's ability to get certain licenses but could make it more difficult to get a mortgage, Gottlieb said. Many banks consider a criminal record in deciding whether a person is a good credit risk.

"For Mr. White, the practical effect is negligible," Gottlieb said. For Libby, a former lawyer, the effect was more substantial because it means that he remains disbarred.

White entered prison after an appellate court upheld his conviction and the state's highest court refused to hear the case. Spota said the appeals court found "ample support for the jury's conclusion that a reasonable person in the defendant's position . . . would not have believed that the use of deadly force was necessary."

Suffolk police said they have increased patrols around the White home and taken other measures to assure the family is left undisturbed.

The commutation was the 13th time that Paterson had used his powers as governor to issue pardons, clemencies or commutations of sentences.

"On August 9, 2006, a young life was lost, beliefs were challenged, lives were ruined and a community became distraught," Paterson said of the White case. "No one intended this, yet everyone suffered . . . The action I am taking today is one of understanding, forgiveness and hope, which I believe are the essential components of justice."

On Thursday, Daniel Cicciaro Sr. also refused to speak to reporters outside Dano's Auto Clinic in Port Jefferson Station. A woman at a Holtsville home where Joanne Cicciaro had lived also declined to comment.

The Cicciaros won a settlement in 2009 in a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Whites and the couple who hosted the Sound Beach party. The amount of that settlement was undisclosed.

But Cicciaro Sr. shared one message on a banner outside his home.

"God Bless Dano Jr.," it read. "May he rest in peace."

With Josh Seidman, Paul Post, Sophia Chang, Sarah Crichton, Ann Givens, Bart Jones, Chau Lam, Carl MacGowan, Elizabeth Moore, Jo Napolitano, Andrew Smith, Will Van Sant and Patrick Whittle.