Ung acquitted in wounding of DiDonato in Old City

A Common Pleas Court jury has acquitted former Temple Law School student Gerald Ung of all charges for shooting and critically wounding Eddie DiDonato in an early morning confrontation little more than a year ago in Old City.

Ung, 29, bent over, wracked with sobs, when the jury of six men and six women delivered the verdict Tuesday afternoon after four hours of deliberations: not guilty of attempted murder, aggravated assault, and possessing an instrument of crime.

DiDonato, 24, a star lacrosse player for La Salle College High School and Villanova University who is now partially paralyzed, and the three friends who were with him on the night of the shooting, sat stoically. Other relatives, however, were visibly upset, and some started crying.

Ung left court shaking and supported by two friends. He did not comment on the verdict.

Nor did the victim or his friends. DiDonato, limping heavily, with four of the six shots still inside him and one lodged in his spine, shook his head and shuffled silently down the hall.

"My heart is broken. I have nothing to say," said DiDonato's father and namesake, a well-known Center City lawyer.

Ung maintained he shot DiDonato in self-defense at 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2010, after DiDonato and his friends followed him for a block, swearing at and menacing him and two others with him.

DiDonato and his companions testified that the shooting was unprovoked. They said Ung confronted them, inexplicably enraged, as both groups waited for cabs at Third and Market Streets after an evening of clubbing.

The jury may have reconciled the starkly disparate versions of events with a silent 70-second video of the shooting, captured on surveillance cameras outside the Fox29 studios at Fourth and Market Streets.

The video showed Ung and two friends moving west on Market toward the shooting scene, with DiDonato and his three friends close behind. Members of both groups appeared angry, and were calling to each other. Ung was being restrained and pulled away by his companions.

But, contrary to the testimony of DiDonato and his friends, the video also showed one of them, Thomas Kelly, twice rush at Ung and his group from the street.

The first time, Kelly was intercepted by Ung's friend Joy Keh, and pushed away as he tried to throw a punch at Ung. The second time, at Fourth and Market, Kelly rushed in and pushed one of Ung's companions aside.

As Kelly moved in, the video showed Ung trying to kick him, then drawing a pistol and holding him at bay. At the same time, DiDonato moved toward Ung, who tried to kick. DiDonato grabbed his leg.

As the two tumbled backward, muzzle flashes lit the scene. Ung, who had a permit to carry the gun, shot DiDonato six times, hitting him in the chest and in one hand.

Ung immediately called 911 on his cell phone, reported that he had shot someone, and waited on the scene for the ambulance and police to arrive.

Assistant District Attorney Jan McDermott argued that Ung was irresponsible for taking a loaded gun with him while out drinking. She also contended that his actions did not meet the legal standards for self-defense because he did not try such alternatives as fleeing the scene or calling police on his cell phone.

However, defense attorney Jack McMahon argued that those options were unrealistic in an incident that lasted just 70 seconds.

"I'm very pleased for Gerald Ung," McMahon said afterward. "On the other hand, this is not a day to be ecstatic or happy. My real hope is that Mr. DiDonato's injuries continue getting better.

He added, "There were a lot of bad choices made that night."

McDermott, visibly worn and saddened, said afterward, "Obviously, I respect the verdict coming from the jury, but I am greatly disappointed for Eddie and his family. There is really not much else to say."

DiDonato has physical therapy three times a week. McDermott said the bullet in his spine could make permanent the paralysis causing his limp as well as continuing bowel and abdominal problems.

As for Ung, McMahon said he did not know if the Fairfax, Va., native intended to try to return to Temple, where he was in the third year of a four-year evening law school program.