Crime & Safety

DA: Oddone Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter, First Degree, In Death of Hampton Bays Man

The case, during which Hampton Bays man Andrew Reister lost his life, made headlines. Oddone will not serve any additional jail time.

Anthony Oddone, whose manslaughter conviction after a seven-week jury trial in 2010 was overturned earlier this year, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the charge of manslaughter in the first degree, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.

Oddone, Spota said, admitted he "intended to cause serious physical injury and caused the death of Andrew Reister of Hampton Bays by compressing his neck during a violent confrontation in a Southampton bar."

Spota 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, he added.

In overturning the conviction, the Court of Appeals ruled that Oddone’s attorney should have been allowed to challenge the recollection of a witness regarding the length of the chokehold, Spota said.

Oddone will be sentenced to five years,  four months in prison — time he has already served in an upstate prison — and five years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced on March 19 at 2:30 p.m. in Riverhead. 

Oddone, 31, waived his right to appeal his criminal conviction.

He is free in lieu of $500,000 cash bail. 

Reister, 40, was formally declared brain dead on August 9, 2008, two days after the fight, Spota said.

In December, two days before Christmas, Oddone was released from jail for the first time since 2008 when supporters of the 31-year-old man, whose conviction in Reister's death after a fight at a Southampton Village bar in 2008 was overturned, posted $500,000 cash bail to free him after five years and four months in custody. Judge C. Randall Hinrichs agreed to the bail, while prosecutors seek another indictment in order to retry him.  

"Thank you so much," Oddone said to his mother as they hugged. His supporters clapped and cheered. "I love you, Mom." 

"I'm just very grateful to be with my friends and family and loved ones who supported me through this whole thing," he told reporters. 

In a 7-0 ruling issued on Dec. 12, the New York State Court of Appeals tossed Oddone's conviction and subsequent 17-year sentence.

The court found that evidentiary rulings that Hinrichs made not permitting the defense to refresh a witness's recollection with a statement the witness had previously given about how long the headlock lasted was improper. 



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.