January 9, 2009
Son testifies in dad's killing trial
Wearing a bulletproof vest and swarmed by an entourage that included members of the Nation of Islam and 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, Aaron White stepped into the Suffolk County courthouse in Riverhead Monday and gave a considerably different version of events than jurors have previously heard about the night his father shot Daniel Cicciaro Jr. in the face.
At first smiling and joking as he talked about his family, his schooling and how boring Miller Place can be on a Saturday night, Aaron's demeanor changed drastically as he recalled getting a phone call moments after leaving a party on Aug. 9, 2006.
"Can I repeat the exact words?" the slight Suffolk County Community College sophomore asked timidly before getting the OK from Suffolk County Court Judge Barbara Kahn.
"Get back to this party, you (N-word) !" Aaron White, 20, exploded into a microphone as he testified in the racially charged manslaughter trial of his father, John White, 54. "I said, 'Who the -- -- -- are you?' He said he was Dano."
While giving a story that was mostly consistent with the version offered by defense attorneys, Aaron frequently stumbled in his answers -- often telling defense attorney Frederick Brewington, "Give me a moment" and taking long pauses while recalling a sequence of events. He also occasionally stammered and stuttered through some of his most inflammatory allegations.
Aaron, dressed in a gray sweater, lavender shirt, and purple tie, appeared to repeatedly lock eyes with Cicciaro's father, Daniel Sr.
After prosecutor James Chalifoux rested his case Monday afternoon, Aaron took the stand as the first defense witness and testified that he had left the party, where several guests appeared "drunk and stumbling," after Cicciaro asked him to without offering a reason. Aaron later learned that he was being accused of threatening to rape Cicciaro's close friend Jennifer Martin -- a charge he denies.
Loudly and aggressively, White repeatedly cursed and used the N-word as he described Cicciaro's violent and racist diatribe on the phone.
"The word ... what does that mean to you?" Brewington, of Hempstead, asked Aaron.
"That means slavery," he responded.
Aaron testified that after yelling at his father to wake him from a "dead sleep," he put a cell phone call with Cicciaro on speakerphone so his parents could hear the threats:"Come out your house you . I'm going to kill you." Aaron said his father yelled at his mother to call the police, and scrambled through the house before going into the garage.
Aaron said he went into a closet and grabbed a shotgun to protect his father, but said he had no intention of using the weapon.
Aaron testified that he didn't notice anything in his father's hands when he followed him out to confront the group of teens, who had parked one of their cars with the headlights on and pointed in the Whites' driveway. One of the teens was walking on the front lawn, Aaron recalled.
During a heated exchange, John White told the teens to get off his property, as Cicciaro continued his barrage of racial slurs, Aaron testified. After his father told him to go inside, Aaron began walking away. His father followed behind him, he testified.
"Then I see Dano. He rushed up behind him ... like trying to grab for something," Aaron testified. Seconds later, Aaron said he heard a "pop" and "Dano's body fell to the ground."
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