Judge to reconsider testimony in '97 murder trial that resulted in DiGuglielmo conviction

By REBECCA BAKER
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original Publication: November 22, 2007)

A judge wants to spend the next month reviewing records in the 1997 murder trial of Richard DiGuglielmo before deciding if a witness' recanted testimony is enough to overturn the conviction.

"This case is a priority," Westchester County Judge Rory Bellantoni said yesterday in court after adjourning the case Monday.

The witness, 31-year-old Michael Dillon, claims he was pressured by Dobbs Ferry police to change his original account of the shooting to say that Charles Campbell posed no danger when he was shot by DiGuglielmo, an off-duty New York Police Department officer, outside his family's deli on Oct. 3, 1996.

Dillon, a cable technician who happened by the scene that night, told police on the night of the shooting that Campbell was still swinging a baseball bat.

DiGuglielmo's lawyers say Dillon's recantation and police tactics should be enough to overturn the conviction.

The prosecution maintains that the jury relied on numerous witnesses besides Dillon.

Yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Robert Sauer asked the judge to dismiss DiGuglielmo's petition for a new trial, saying his lawyers hadn't proved that police intimidated Dillon into changing his story. Dillon testified Tuesday that Dobbs Ferry police treated him respectfully and fairly and that he didn't remember detectives ever yelling or threatening him.

Dillon's own testimony, Sauer said, proved that he did not meet the legal definition of being under duress.

"All we have in this case are Mr. Dillon's subjective feelings," he said.

Bellantoni denied the motion to dismiss the case, saying there was enough evidence to move on. He said he wanted to read the case records thoroughly over the next month before rendering a decision in January.

Dillon could be DiGuglielmo's last chance to reverse his conviction in one of Westchester's biggest homicide cases of the 1990s. The 42-year-old is serving 20 years to life in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder for the deadly shooting in the parking lot of the Venice Deli on Ashford Avenue.

Campbell had struck DiGuglielmo's father with a baseball bat after a confrontation over Campbell's parking in the lot while getting pizza across the street. The jury rejected DiGuglielmo's claim that he was defending his father.

The killer's mother, Rosemary DiGuglielmo, compared Dillon to people who give false confessions under pressure by police.

"They're so worn down, they don't know what the truth is anymore," she said.

But Randolph McLaughlin, an attorney for the Campbell family, said the only victim in the case is Charles Campbell.

"We sincerely hope that at the end of the day the judge sees what we see," he said.

Bellantoni adjourned the hearing until 10 a.m. Monday and told attorneys on both sides to clear their schedules because he wanted to finish proceedings next week.

"We'll go day to day until it's done," he said. "It's gone on long enough."