DiGuglielmo hearing judge will interview more witnesses about possible police pressure

By JONATHAN BANDLER
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original Publication: November 27, 2007)

WHITE PLAINS - A judge reversed himself today and said he would allow additional witnesses to discuss whether police pressured them to change their statements following a fatal shooting by an off-duty New York York City police officer 11 years ago in Dobbs Ferry.

The ruling sparked optimism by supporters of imprisoned Richard DiGuglielmo as they seek to get his murder conviction overturned. But the brother of victim Charles Campbell expressed outrage, suggesting the judge was grandstanding.

"I don't know what the judge is trying to do," said William Campbell. "He's just about trying the case for the defendant. That's what it seemed to me."

The ongoing hearing before Westchester County Judge Rory Bellantoni is to determine whether village detectives coerced witness Michael Dillon into abandoning his account that DiGuglielmo was protecting his father when he shot a bat-wielding Campbell Oct. 3, 1996, outside the family's Venice Deli. That was what Dillon told police and a television news reporter later that night. Four days later, Dillon changed his statement, telling detectives that Campbell was backing away and no longer swinging the bat when he was shot.

He stuck with that account when he testified at DiGugliemo's trial and did not raise the issue of police coercion until investigators for DiGuglielmo contacted him last year.

At the start of the hearing last week, Dillon testified that he changed his statement because he felt intimidated by police twice showing up at his job and taking him to police headquarters to reinterview him. Lt James Guarnieri testified yesterday that they only talked to him one time after the night of the shooting and that he voluntarily changed his account.

The defense hopes that testimony of witnesses James White and Kevin O'Donnell can corroborate that Dillon was pressured to change his account. Both men gave initial statements after the shooting suggesting DiGuglielmo might have been justified. But the prosecution opposed both witnesses, saying the defense had chosen not to call White at the trial and that O'Donnell's account of his dealings with police were fully aired at the trial.

Bellantoni had ruled White could not testify because he was not a witness at the trial. Yesterday, he denied DiGuglielmo's new request to call White, saying that White would have no way of knowing whether Dillon had been coerced because he was not there. But he changed his mind today, suggesting that there was some question about Guarnieri's credibility because the lieutenant said Dillon was the only witness who gave an inconsistent account.

Both witnesses live in Florida.

The defense had not even asked to call O'Donnell but welcomed the opportunity when Bellantoni said he wanted to hear from him.

DiGuglielmo's lawyer, Andrew Schapiro, asked for an adjournment for White to get to New York. Bellantoni said he wanted him here by tomorrow morning. The ex-officer's supporters said they have already spoken with White and were hopeful they could make him available that quickly.

Read more about this story tomorrow in The Journal News and at lohud.com.