Thursday, May 2, 2013
Current penalty just a $25 fine; DiGilio verdict reignites call to toughen New Jersey's 'leaving the scene' law
"I think it's sort of reopened the whole grieving process again," said Bonnie Post, describing the feeling of Anthony DiGilio being found not guilty of vehicular homicide in the boating accident that killed her husband, Robert. "It minimized the death of my husband," said Post, a pediatric nurse from Essex Fells and a summer resident of Point Pleasant Borough. The verdict in the DiGilio case, which stemmed from an Aug. 3, 2008 accident in the Metedeconk River in Brick, came more than four years later on April 22. A week after the verdict, Bonnie Post is reeling from what she sees not only as an injustice to her family, but a wider hole in New Jersey's boating laws. DiGilio, then 29, did not stop after hitting the 17-foot Boston Whaler …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Brick resident cleared on vehicular homicide charge
A jury has found Brick resident Anthony DiGilio not guilty of vehicular homicide and assault by vessel in connection with a fatal Aug. 3, 2008 boating accident. The jury of eight men and four women began deliberating just after 2 p.m. Monday following the end of closing arguments in the three week-long trial. The verdict was read in Superior Court Judge Francis Hodgson's court room at about 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. Minutes after the verdict was read, family and supporters of DiGilio, 33, were outside the court room making emotional phone calls, often crying with joy spreading the news. Family members and friends of Robert Post, the 49-year-old Essex Fells resident who died in the boating accident, were visibly upset as they quickly exited the …
Monday, April 22, 2013
Jurors request video footage, transcript
The jury in the Anthony DiGilio vehicular homicide case will continue deliberations Tuesday morning. The jury was dismissed for the day around 4:30 p.m. Monday after hearing a court stenographer read a transcript of testimony from prosecution witness Jack Neary, who was fishing at the Point Pleasant Canal the night of the Aug. 3, 2008 fatal boat accident that led to the trial. In the accident, DiGilio's 27-foot Imperial collided with a 17-foot Boston Whaler being piloted by Robert Post, 49, of Essex Fells. Post was killed and two others severely injured. Judge Francis Hodgson said he received three notes from jurors about an hour into their deliberations: the first was requesting to see security video footage from a camera at Fisherman's …
Prosecutor to jury: DiGIlio acted in a manner that was 'senseless and reckless'
The vehicular homicide and assault case against Brick resident Anthony DiGilio is now in the hands of a jury. Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Hillary Bryce delivered an approximately two hour-long summation of the state's case Monday morning, wrapping up closing arguments that began Friday with defense attorney Joseph Tacopina delivering his own nearly five hour-long summation. Bryce used her summation to try to convince jurors that DiGilio, now 33, was operating his boat recklessly and that his recklessness caused the death of 49-year-old Robert Post of Essex Fells, who was at the helm of a 17-foot Boston Whaler that collided with DiGilio's 27-foot Imperial performance boat. "There was no way for Bob Post or anyone on that Boston Whaler…
Friday, April 19, 2013
Closing arguments begin in fatal boat accident trial; Video from tackle shop's camera played in court during closing arguments
Closing arguments began Friday morning in the trial of Brick resident Anthony DiGilio, who is facing charges of vehicular homicide and assault by vessel in an Aug. 3, 2008 boating accident on the Metedeconk River. As part of his closing statement, defense attorney Joseph Tacopina showed jurors a video of a boat he said was DiGilio's leaving the Wharfside Patio Bar in Point Pleasant Beach with its lights on at the same time evidence shows he left the establishment to go home. The prosecution has contended that DiGilio's boat's navigation lights were not on at the time of the late night accident and that his vessel was travelling too fast for the conditions at the time. Their case largely hinges on those allegations being proven true, since …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
911 tape played for jurors
The prosecution in the trial of Brick Township boater Anthony DiGilio called several witnesses Thursday who described a chaotic, bloody scene following the Aug. 3, 2008 boating accident that is the subject of DiGilio's trial, the Star-Ledger reported. Those who testified, including the widow of Robert Post, a 49-year-old Essex Fells resident who was killed in the accident, recounted confusion and horror in the moments following the accident in which DiGilio's 27-foot Imperial performance boat collided with Post's 17-foot Boston Whaler. Cliff Farren, one of the passengers on the boat, told a 911 he could not see Post's head and that he had likely been decapitated, according to the Star-Ledger's report. Other passengers on the boat who …
Monday, February 11, 2013
Anthony Digilio trial date had been moved from last fall
The trial of a Brick Township man charged in a fatal boating accident in Aug. 2008 is set to begin soon after being pushed back from the fall, officials said. Anthony Digilio, now 33, is facing charges of vehicular homicide and assault after authorities say he fled the scene of a late-night boating accident near Gunner's Ditch at the mouth of the Metedeconk River and Barnegat Bay. Jury selection in the case is currently scheduled for March 26 with the trial expected to begin April 2, said Senior Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Hillary Bryce. "We're hoping, looking at it, that it will be done in the month of April," Bryce said. Delays in taking the case to trial have been due to Digilio's attorney, Joseph Tacopina of New York City, being …
Monday, August 6, 2012
Anthony Digilio, if convicted, facing more than a decade behind bars
The man accused of vehicular homicide and assault stemming from an Aug. 2008 boating accident near the mouth of the Metedeconk River will have his day in court Oct. 29, officials said. Brick resident Anthony Digilio, now 33, is facing a single count of vehicular homicide and two counts of assault by vessel. He was charged after authorities alleged he was at the helm of a boat involved in a hit-and-run accident that killed an Essex County man and injured two others. The Aug. 3, 2008 accident, which occurred after 1:30 a.m., resulted in the death of Robert Post, a 49-year-old Essex Fells resident who was piloting a 17-foot Boston Whaler that night. Several other people were injured in the accident, two seriously. After the accident, …
Sal Petoia
5:37 pm on Monday, May 6, 2013
John S.: Well said! You echo my sentiments exactly. See my earlier post above submitted on 3 May. The prosecution and the jury really blew this case! Any sensible/responsible boater who travels these waters at night knows that you have your boat well lit and that you travel at a speed that is reasonable for the conditions. Even if DeGillio's bow lights were working, the speeds at which he was … more ›