Judge: I'll keep reviewing NYPD officer's murder conviction

Newsday (Associated Press)

November 22, 2007

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) _ A judge has denied prosecutors' attempts to cut off a review of a murder case that sent a New York City police officer to prison. The judge said there was enough evidence for him to continue weighing whether a witness was pressured into changing his account.

Westchester County Judge Rory Bellantoni said Wednesday he wanted to continue hearing testimony and reading trial records before deciding in January whether the witness' recantation warrants a new trial for the former officer, Richard D. DiGuglielmo.

"This case is a priority," Bellantoni said.

DiGuglielmo, 42, is serving 20 years to life in prison for the 1996 shooting. He said he was defending his father in a fight over a parking space outside the DiGuglielmo family deli in Dobbs Ferry.

According to trial testimony, DiGuglielmo, who was off-duty, shot Charles Campbell after Campbell hit DiGuglielmo's father with a baseball bat. Witness Michael Dillon initially told police Campbell was swinging the bat when he was shot, but Dillon later testified that Campbell was only holding the bat at the ready.

Dillon went back on that testimony last year, saying Dobbs Ferry police had pressed him to change his version of events.

But at a hearing Tuesday on DiGuglielmo's bid to get his murder conviction overturned, Dillon testified that police treated him with respect and fairness and didn't threaten him.

Saying that testimony didn't portray a confession given under duress, Assistant District Attorney Robert Sauer asked the judge Wednesday to dismiss DiGuglielmo's request. Bellantoni declined and scheduled the hearing to continue Monday.

DiGuglielmo's lawyers maintain that police actions and Dillon's recantation last year merit a new trial. Prosecutors say that regardless of Dillon's testimony, DiGuglielmo would have been convicted on other evidence.