Giacona(13) murder case/UPDATES

[knightgale]

http://www.wktv.com/news/local/51902797.html

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Joseph Giacona III, accused of shooting his father in their Vernon home is due in Oneida County Court on Friday.

At that time, his case is expected to shift gears from adult, criminal court to Oneida County Family Court, and a much less strict sentencing structure.

Joseph Giacona III's attorney says there are several factors that have helped point this case the Family Court way.

First, there's the child's age - he's 14; 13 at the time of his dad's murder.

Then, there's what his attorney refers to as his emotional and psychological history.

Now, in terms of punishment for the crime, when you go this family court route, the focus is more on rehabilitation, because Giacona will be a free man at 21 - that's the age when you exit the family court system.

"The actual focus on that time does become his rehabilitation, becomes his education and trying to help him and support him to become a very responsible and productive member of this society," said Leland McCormac III, defense attorney for Giacona III.

If this goes on as planned Friday, Giacona III would be committed for three years to a facility under the auspices of the State Office of Child and Family Services for 3 years - the first 6-12 months of which would be spent in a secure detention facility.

[knightgale]

This is very rare in juvenile cases, but sooo glad the judge agreed that "sending him to state prison was NOT the right thing to do." Hopefully now this child
will get help, consideration of the contributing background factors were so vital, to be heard/known/considered in this child's case. He did NOT get to where he is today ALL BY HIMSELF!!!
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http://www.wktv.com/news/local/52194267.html

Giacona pleads to manslaughter of father; case heads to Family Court
Originally printed at http://www.wktv.com/news/local/52194267.html

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - A 14-year-old boy pleads guilty to killing his father. Despite that, he will be a free man once he turns 21.

Both the boy's attorney and the prosecution say 14-year-old Joseph Giacona III was abused both verbally and physically by his father for years. There was even an altercation the night before the murder.

After reading a report from a psychologist hired by the defense and a psychiatrist hired by the prosecution, the judge agreed, sending the teen to state prison was not the right thing to do.

Instead his case is being turned over to Oneida County Family Court, where on Monday, he is expected to be sentenced. Most likely he will spend his life in a juvenile facility until he turns 21.

Prosecutor Kurt Hameline questioned the boy about what happened that afternoon in January of 2008 in he and his father's home in Vernon.

Giacona says he didn't intend to kill his father. In fact, he says his father wanted him to shoot him as he layed on the couch. Hameline kept questioning Giacona about the conversation he says he had with his dad, before he shot him.

Giacona is scheduled to appear in Oneida County Family Court on Monday at 2:30pm. Again most likely he will be in a juvenile facility until he is 21.

It was brought out Friday, that at the age of 13, just weeks before the murder, Giacona's father gave him a 20 gauge shotgun for Christmas. He would use it to shoot birds with his dad.

However, that wasn't the gun he used to shoot his father, he used his father's 16-gauge shotgun.

[knightgale]

http://www.wktv.com/news/local/52373352.html

Judge denies mother's request to have Giacona come home with her

Story Created: Aug 3, 2009 at 3:42 PM EDT
Story Updated: Aug 3, 2009 at 4:04 PM EDT

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) -

Despite a mother's plea, the 14 year old Vernon teen accused of shooting his father in the head while he slept last year will not be allowed to go home with her, and will return to a juvenile detention facility.

Today was the initial transfer of the case of Joseph Giacona III from Oneida County Court to Oneida County Family Court. Giacona III will face less strict sentencing in the family court system, than he would in Oneida County Court.
It was revealed in County Court on Friday that Giacona's father had verbally and physically abused him for years, leading up the day he was shot and killed.
Giacona's mother appeared in family court on Monday, where she asked that the boy be allowed to go home with her, rather than to a detention center. The judge denied this request.
A disposition, the equivalent of a sentencing, is set for September 4.

[knightgale]

http://www.wktv.com/news/local/56937057.html

Giacona's lawyer makes motion to exclude all but family from hearing

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - The Vernon teen accused of his father's murder is due in Oneida County Family Court Friday morning for a dispositional hearing.

Doctors who've examined Joseph Giacona III will testify about their findings. Then, a judge will make a recommendation on what is best for the teen - placement in a secured facility, conditional discharge with treatment in the community, or even probation.

Giacona's lawyer has made a motion to exclude anyone but family and interested parties from Friday's hearing.

The judge has not yet ruled on that motion.

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[knightgale]

http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1574722631/Judge-to-decide-whether-to-bar-press-from-Giacona-hearing

Teen's fate in father's shooting set for Thursday
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By EMERSON CLARRIDGE
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Sep 03, 2009 @ 02:00 PM
Last update Sep 04, 2009 @ 07:56 PM

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UTICA — As everyone prepared to leave Family Court Friday, Joseph Giacona Sr. called out to the judge from the back of the room and asked for permission to speak.

Giacona, the father of a Vernon man who was shot to death by his teenage son as he slept inside their home last year, asked to be able to refute most of what he heard throughout the day from experts who testified in detail about the way his son allegedly abused his grandson.

“Half of it was a lie,” he said from the back of the courtroom near where 14-year-old Joseph Giacona III, wearing a gray T-shirt and jeans, sat silently staring straight ahead.

Family Court Judge Randal B. Caldwell declined the elder Giacona's request, though he said he may be allowed to speak at 10 a.m. Thursday when the judge will determine whether Giacona III should be released from a secure detention facility and move in with his mother as requested Friday by Carl Graziadei, the teen's law guardian.

“Joseph should be returned to his mother,” Graziadei told the judge.

Assistant County Attorney Raymond Bara said he opposed that plan, and argued that Giacona III should receive treatment for emotional trauma and severe cognitive disabilities in a facility outside his home.

“He committed a violent act in the killing of his father,” Bara said.

Prosecutors have said Giacona III had been physically and verbally abused at the hands of his father, 37-year-old Giacona Jr., who was shot dead as he slept on a couch during the afternoon of Jan. 24, 2008.

Giacona III pleaded guilty July 31, 2009, to felony first-degree manslaughter in Oneida County Court in a deal with prosecutors, who agreed to transfer the case to noncriminal Family Court.
Giacona III cannot be held in a detention facility beyond his 21st birthday, according to Family Court guidelines.

The discussion of if and for how long Giacona III is detained came at the end of Friday's hearing, most of which was closed to reporters.

A probation officer, forensic psychiatrist and others who have interviewed and worked with Giacona III testified about the youth's mental state and upbringing during the hearing.

Making public the details of that abuse would've caused the teen further harm, Graziadei argued as he sought to close the hearing to reporters.

“It would serve no purpose to make the public aware of these particular and specific matters,” he wrote in a motion seeking the closure.

Bara said in court that he also thought the hearing should be closed to reporters.
“I really don't see how exposing all his past problems to the media is going to help serve” the teen, Bara said.

The hearing was “not about getting the media a story,” he said.

An attorney for the Observer-Dispatch, Michael Grygiel, offered an oral argument to the Judge Randall B. Caldwell via telephone opposing the closure.

Caldwell allowed the parents and sister of Giacona Jr. to stay in the courtroom despite Graziadei's request that they also be excluded. Graziadei said Giacona III had told him that he only wanted his mother, Rachelle Rustici of Whitestown, present.

But the paternal grandparents, who said they travel to an Albany juvenile detention center every weekend to visit their grandson, said they found that hard to believe.
“Why would he want to keep us out?” Giacona Sr. said.

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Copyright © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.
Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.

[knightgale]

Hope this judge will make a decision, for the sake of this child's "life", to help him become a productive member of society, with NO ADULT sanctions/sentence.
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http://www.romesentinel.com/news?newsid=20090905-141242

Grandparents protest at boy’s hearing

Joseph J. Giacona III Before a Family Court judge opted to close a court hearing for 14-year-old Joseph J. Giacona III, his paternal grandparents rose to their feet to insist they be allowed to attend.

The defense had requested that only Giacona’s mother, Rachelle Rustici, be allowed at Friday’s hearing, but Joseph J. Giacona Sr., his wife and his daughter argued otherwise. The three spoke of bad blood between their side of the family and Rustici, and said that she was attempting to keep them from visiting their grandson. They are the parents and sister of Joseph J. Giacona Jr., who was shot and killed by his teen-age son in January 2008.

After arguments from both sides of the family, Caldwell allowed the Giaconas to attend the hearing — but he barred the media. Caldwell will also allow the Giaconas to speak at their grandson’s sentencing on Thursday, Sept. 10.

Friday’s hearing was held to determine the sentence that should be imposed on Giacona III after he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on July 31. Giacona, his mother, and several psychiatrists testified about the physical and emotional abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Caldwell reserved his decision on the sentencing until Thursday morning, court officials said. Giacona III could be sentenced to anywhere between three to seven years in a juvenile correctional facility, or he may be released into the care of his mother as he receives ongoing counseling.

Before the hearing started, Giacona’s grandparents stood in the back of the courtroom and told Judge Caldwell that the abuse was not their son’s fault. They attempted to place some of the blame on Rustici, and accused her of taking their names off the approved visitors’ list at Giacona’s detention facility. Caldwell told the Giaconas that they would be able to speak at the sentencing on Thursday.

Authorities said Giacona shot and killed his 37-year-old father on the afternoon of Jan. 24, 2008. The shooting took place while his father was sleeping on the couch at their North Sconondoa Street home in Vernon. Prosecutors said Giacona had suffered years of abuse from his father, leading to the shooting. Giacona was sent to live with his mother following the shooting, until his arrest in September 2008. Giacona has since been behind bars at the Capital District Juvenile Secure Detention Facility in Albany.

[knightgale]

Article not posted due to copyrights, please click url for viewing

http://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/ny-boy-who-killed-dad-to-remain-in-state-custody-1.1436427