Anthony Oddone, whose conviction in a fatal Hamptons bar brawl was overturned last year, pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter at the urging of the victim’s family who expressed reservations about reliving the case a second time at trial, prosecutors said.
As part of the agreement, Oddone, 31,will return to court on March 19 when he’ll be sentenced to five years and four months in prison, the same amount of time he’s served in an upstate prison, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said.
“While the office was confident of earning another conviction, the victim’s family wanted to be spared the trauma of a second jury trial, and their wishes were the primary factor in the decision to accept Oddone’s guilty plea,” District Attorney Thomas Spota said through a spokesman.
The guilty plea stems from the fatal Aug. 7, 2008 bar fight in which off-duty Suffolk County Corrections Officer Andrew Reiser, who was moonlighting as a bouncer at Southampton Publick House, was chocked to death. Resier was declared brain dead two days after the fight.
The two became involved in scuffle after Oddone refused Reiser’s orders to get down from a table he was dancing on top of, prosecutors said.
Oddone was convicted of manslaughter in 2010. But a New York State Appellate Court last December overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial because of the prosecutors refusal to allow his defense attorney to refresh the memory of a witness whose testimony about the length of the chokehold conflicted with earlier statements she had made.
Oddone’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
