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CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE - The county Prosecutor's Office is dropping the manslaughter charge pending against Middle Township resident Seth Cooper.

In December, a jury found Cooper, 21, not guilty of murder in the December 2006 shooting death of 23-year-old John Cavicchio III. The jury also found him not guilty of the lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter but was unable to come to a unanimous verdict on their final option, manslaughter.

First Assistant Prosecutor J. David Meyer planned to retry Cooper on that charge, but in a July 10 letter to defense attorney John Tumelty, Meyer said he would not be pursuing the case.

"I will, instead, formally dismiss that amended count 1 offense" at a July 24 court hearing, Meyer wrote.

The trial was scheduled to begin with jury selection July 27.

Cavicchio's family did not wish to comment Monday, but Meyer said Monday afternoon that the family did not oppose the state's recommendation.

Meyer said his office opted to dismiss the manslaughter charge because Cooper faced no greater or lesser penalty if convicted of the manslaughter charge than he already faces for the weapons charges he was convicted of at trial.

During the December trial, Cooper was convicted of the second-degree charge of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, which carries a penalty of five to 10 years in prison. The manslaughter charge also is a second-degree offense, and the two charges would have merged at sentencing, Meyer said.

In addition, the jury found Cooper guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and hindering apprehension, both third-degree crimes, and simple assault, a disorderly persons offense.

Cooper, however, has already served more than two and a half years in the Cape May County Jail since his December 2006 arrest, likely making him eligible for parole soon after he is sentenced.

Meyer said Cooper has served substantial time in the jail but would likely still face significant prison time at sentencing.

It was about 7:40 p.m. Dec. 10, 2006, when police were called to Pennsylvania Avenue in the Burleigh section of Middle Township.

There, they found Cavicchio lying in the road, the right side of his head bleeding from a single gunshot wound.

During the trial, Cooper admitted to firing the fatal shot but told jurors he was acting in self-defense.

Cooper testified that he had never met Cavicchio before that night. Cooper and another man, Ernest Dominguez, had agreed to meet each other at a Burleigh cemetery that night to settle a dispute over a mutual girlfriend, Christiena McKinstry.

Cavicchio, of Wildwood, and another man, Charles Griggs, accompanied Dominguez, while Cooper arrived with his brother, Riley, and his friend, Raymond Fryar.

Cooper took a .32-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver with him. The gun had been purchased just a week or so earlier for $250.

After an initial confrontation, Cooper pulled out the gun, fired a shot and chased Dominguez down the road. It was then that Cavicchio got into Dominguez's car with Griggs by his side.

Cooper told jurors that the car Cavicchio was driving "was about to run me over." He said he moved to the right to avoid the car and then fired the fatal shot through the passenger side window, shattering the glass. The bullet missed Griggs in the passenger seat and struck Cavicchio.

"I jumped, and I shot," Cooper said. "I didn't have time to think about it. I just reacted."

Cooper said he did not know whether he had hit anybody and ran back to the cemetery before driving away with his brother and Fryar. The men went to another location where Riley Cooper hid the gun, and then Cooper and Fryar fled Cape May County.

The gun, meanwhile, was later found hidden under a collapsed shed on Honeysuckle Lane.

Cavicchio was flown to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, where he died the following day.

Cooper was captured nearly two weeks later at a South Carolina restaurant.

He has been held in the county jail since Dec. 29, 2006, and is currently being held on $850,000 bail.

Tumelty said Monday that the prosecutor's decision meant his client had been "completely exonerated" on all charges in connection with Cavicchio's death.

Tumelty said he had spoken to his client and that Cooper was happy with the news.

During the trial, Tumelty argued that Cooper acted in self-defense as Cavicchio - at Griggs' urging - used the car as a weapon.

Meyer told jurors that Cooper came to the cemetery with a gun to get an advantage, and it had tragic consequences.

"The life of John Cavicchio tragically and unnecessarily ended because of Seth Cooper," Meyer said in his opening arguments.

A sentencing date has not been set, Meyer said.

E-mail Trudi Gilfillian:

TGilfillian@pressofac.com

3 comments:

• Reality (35) posts 5:46 pm

  To the two posters "honkee" and "myinfo", what part of this statement don't you understand? Meyer said his office opted to dismiss the manslaughter charge because Cooper faced no greater or lesser penalty if convicted of the manslaughter charge than he already faces for the weapons charges he was convicted of at trial. That is why the charge was dismissed, you idiots. He was already found not guilty of the two more serious charges, murder and aggravated manslaughter. The prosecutor made the right decision considering he will get sentenced for the charges he was already convicted of, and it will also save taxpayer money for a trial that would not add more jail time to the guilty person. You two idiots need to stop blaming the prosecutor for everything. Also, honkee, it's time to get over your rant about the Higbee trial. It was an accident, and he was found not guilty at trial, you idiot!

• myinfo (123) posts 8:47 am

  You've got that right...it's totally ridiculous..Cooper stops to get the illegal gun before he goes to the spot with the intent on shooting someone with it..come on Cape May County, I guess if it were some young man from say, Avalon, Stone Harbor he would have gotten the chair....and mind you we don't even have the death penalty.......I hope the victim's family fights for another trial.

• honkee (1) posts 5:49 am

  good job again cape may prosecutor. i bet if a cop shot someone in the course of duty the cape may county prosecutor would be trying to hang em. but seth cooper shoots and kills someone and well, he's already got weapons charges, let's not pursue manslaughter. what a joke this office is. welcome to cape may county where running a stop sign is a more severe offense than shooting someone.

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