Temple law student acquitted of all charges in bar-hop shooting

Gerald Ung, the Temple University Law School student who shot a man six times on an Old City sidewalk last year, sobbed deeply and clasped his hands together as if praying yesterday after a Philadelphia jury found him not guilty of attempted murder.

Ung, 29, a fourth-year law student at Temple when he shot Edward DiDonato Jr. on Jan. 17, 2010, also was found not guilty of aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime.

"Just get me out of here," a weeping Ung, 29, said as friends whisked him from the courtroom after the verdict was read.

The verdict means that the jury of six men and six women believed Ung when he testified Monday that he had acted in self-defense when he shot DiDonato on a Market Street sidewalk.

DiDonato, 24, a former lacrosse star at Villanova University, is the son of Center City lawyer Edward J. DiDonato Sr., and the nephew of city Republican leader Michael Meehan.

DiDonato, who walks with a pronounced limp due to one of four bullets still in his body, declined to comment. His limp is likely to be permanent resulting from the bullet near his spine, a doctor testified during the trial.

"My heart is broken," DiDonato Sr. said upon leaving court.

"I'm disappointed," Meehan said. "What can I say?"

Ung's defense attorney, Jack McMahon, praised the jury's decision in measured tones.

"This was a tragedy," McMahon said. "A lot of bad choices were made. I'm just happy that the jury saw what it was, and that is self-defense. But, again, there's no real winners in a situation like this. Mr. Ung has gone through a lot and Mr. DiDonato has been through a lot."

Assistant District Attorney Jan McDermott, who argued that Ung had shot an unarmed man who had not threatened his life, appeared downcast leaving court.

"The jury has spoken, obviously, and their verdict has to be respected . . . but I am greatly, greatly disappointed for Eddie and for the family," McDermott said. "What they have been through in the past year is above and beyond what anybody can imagine."

Ung and two friends crossed paths with DiDonato and three of his friends at 2:30 a.m. after both groups were looking for cabs after bar-hopping. Soon, a petty argument erupted between the two groups of strangers.

Ung testified that he shot DiDonato in self-defense after he was followed, threatened and, finally, lunged at by DiDonato and one of his three friends on Market Street, in front of the Fox 29 studios.

DiDonato and his friends testified that they hadn't provoked Ung, who they said started the trouble.

According to trial testimony, before Ung fired his .38-caliber pistol, he pointed it at DiDonato and ordered him back. DiDonato kept advancing and said: "Who you gonna shoot?"

Ung kicked. DiDonato grabbed his leg, causing Ung to lose his right boot and his balance. While falling, Ung began shooting. He called 9-1-1 seconds later.

Ung, of Fairfax County, Va., near Washington, had a permit from there that allowed him to legally carry his pistol in Pennsylvania.

McMahon said he didn't know if Ung planned to resume attending law school.