Conviction ends racially charged trial

NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A racially charged trial in New York state has ended with a black man being convicted of manslaughter in the death of a white teenager.

A Suffolk County jury broke through a deadlock and found 54-year-old John H. White guilty Saturday in the 2006 slaying of 17-year-old Daniel Cicciaro.

The homicide trial had been filled with racial overtones since it began and those in attendance were often divided along racial lines.

White was convicted in the Aug. 9, 2006, fatal shooting of Cicciaro in which the teenager and several of his friends came to White's home to challenge White's son to a fight.

While the defense attempted to show race was at the center of the trial, a friend of the Cicciaro family said after the verdict that the contention was unfounded.

"This situation was never about race, and we hope this verdict finally dispels the notion that any racism was involved," Daniel's godfather, Gregg Sarra, told the Times. "The defense wanted to play the race card, and there was nothing there and the jury saw through that."