Massive support for wife of slain correction officer as suspect pleads not guilty to upgraded charges
By Erik German
Newsday (New York)
NEW YORK — The man accused of strangling a bouncer in a Southhampton bar choked his victim with such force that several people could not pry his fingers loose until it was too late, a Suffolk prosecutor said at the man’s arraignment in Riverhead yesterday.
“One, while dragging the defendant’s feet, was unable to get the defendant off the victim,” Assistant District Attorney Denise Merrifield said in a courtroom packed with colleagues of the victim, who was also a full-time Suffolk correction officer.
Anthony Oddone pleaded not guilty to two charges of second-degree murder, which were upgraded from assault charges after the part-time bouncer, Andrew Reister, died.
Oddone, 25, of Farmingville, was dancing on a table Aug. 7 at the Publick House bar when Reister, 40, asked Oddone to get down. The pair scuffled, and police said Oddone choked Reister and kept at it long after the bouncer had blacked out. Reister was hospitalized on life support until he died Aug. 9.
Oddone’s lawyer, Anthony La Pinta, of Hauppauge, declined to comment on the facts of the case or any possible defense. “All that we ask for is that a thorough investigation be completed and Mr. Oddone be afforded as fair a process as possible,” La Pinta said.
Earlier in the week, Oddone’s previous attorney, Glenn Obedin, of Central Islip, said his client had been acting in self-defense. “It was Mr. Oddone who was attacked,” Obedin said. “Unfortunately, there was a tragic result.”
Suffolk County Court Judge C. Randall Hinrichs ordered Oddone jailed without bail, to be held at Rikers Island in Queens - instead of the jail in Riverhead, where Reister worked.
Scores of correction officers turned up at the courthouse yesterday. The blue-shirted officers gathered in the parking lot and packed themselves bicep to bicep in the courtroom.
Outside court, District Attorney Thomas Spota said prosecutors will dismiss one of the murder counts before trial, once they decide whether Oddone killed Reister intentionally or as a matter of depraved indifference.
Spota commended the correction officers for turning up in force, saying “I’ve been around a long time and I’ve never seen such overwhelming support.”
Reister’s widow, Stacey, thanked what she called “the entire family” that accompanied her to court. “I don’t just mean blood, I mean blue,” she added, gesturing to the uniformed officers behind her.
In addition to his wife, Reister is survived by their two young children.
While many of the more than 150 officers at court yesterday called Reister a friend, others knew him only by reputation.
“Just to hear people talk about him, you’ve got to come pay your respects,” said Officer Brian Arce, of Central Islip, as he stood with colleagues before the arraignment. “It was a shame what happened.”
Suspect’s custody status
Anthony Oddone the man charged with murder in the Aug. 7 choking of Andrew Reister, a Suffolk County correction officer, is being held at Rikers Island’s Robert N. Davoren Center. The 2,000-inmate capacity facility is run by the New York City Department of Correction.
Oddone, 25, of Farmingville, is being held in protective custody, an isolated status that jail officials give to high-profile inmates who may be in danger if they were housed in the general population.
While in protective custody, inmates may be locked in their cells for up to 23 hours each day, leaving the units only for exercise and recreation, family visits and talks with attorneys, said Stephen J. Morello, deputy commissioner for public information for the New York City Department of Correction.
Only one inmate at a time may be on the corridor in the housing unit, Morello said. And inmates are escorted by correction officers at all times when moving throughout the jail.
Copyright 2008 Newsday (New York)