Court overturns Coram man's murder conviction

The murder conviction of a Coram man was overturned this week to the dismay of the victim's family. A state appeals court granted Gary Smith a new trial because the jury was never informed it could consider

News 12 Staff

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Aug 25, 2007, 2:28 AM

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Updated 6,353 days ago

The murder conviction of a Coram man was overturned this week to the dismay of the victim's family.

A state appeals court granted Gary Smith a new trial because the jury was never informed it could consider him drunk at the time of the crime. The court ruled the information could have affected the verdict.

Jeanie Ferdinando, 20, was stabbed to death in her mother's Coram home in 2004. Smith, her mother's boyfriend at the time, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment.

"Whether you're drunk or not and take out a knife and kill somebody, you should be severely punished," said Brigid Berninger, the victim's sister.

"The intent of what he was doing was clear on the 911 tape as Jeanie begged for her life," the victim's adopted brother, Jim O'Brien, said. "She begged him to stop."

Berninger and O'Brien said neither the district attorney nor the courts alerted them of the decision. The family said it found out from News 12 Long Island's Friday morning broadcast.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota declined comment on this week's events.