2 accused in fatal stabbing plead to lesser charges

Two men originally arrested in connection with the 2007 stabbing death of a gun-toting man at a west Santa Rosa party have entered pleas to lesser charges.

Santa Rosa police initially arrested three men on suspicion of murdering 21-year-old Benjamin Floriani on Dec. 15, 2007, during an alcohol-fueled brawl at a party attended by dozens of teens and young adults. Another young man was charged with being an accessory.

This week's pleas bring to an end a complicated case that some of the defendants still contend was self-defense.

Investigators said young men from two groups of partygoers got into several arguments at the late-night party, held at a west Santa Rosa town house. Several people were injured, at least four by knives, during several melees, according to court testimony.

Floriani was stabbed to death inside the small town home. Some witnesses testified that he had been brandishing a handgun earlier in the night.

Police arrested Alex Hopper, 21, Donald Bittner, 20, and Matthew O'Day, 20, on suspicion of his murder and Noah Minuskin, 20, as an accessory.

Police and witnesses described the party scene and stabbing aftermath as chaotic and confusing. The investigation into who was responsible was hampered by uncooperative witnesses and statements from those who were too high or drunk to have remembered accurately.

After a lengthy preliminary hearing last summer during which several young witnesses recanted their statements to police or admitted lying, a judge threw out all charges against O'Day and reduced them against Hopper and Bittner.

Hopper agreed last month to plead no contest to one count of manslaughter when prosecutors dropped charges of assault with a deadly weapon. He is expected to be sentenced to the midterm of six years at a hearing later this month.

This week, Bittner and Minuskin agreed to the plea arrangements as their trial was set to begin.

Bittner entered a no-contest plea to assault, and Minuskin pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor accessory charge.

After the preliminary hearing, Judge Ken Gnoss dismissed the murder charge against Bittner, ruling that the evidence implicated him only in connection with assault but not Floriani's stabbing. He said there was some evidence connecting Hopper to an attack on Floriani.

Gnoss dismissed all charges against O'Day after no witnesses connected him to anything illegal.

On Monday, Minuskin was sentenced to three years' probation and 60 days in jail, 33 of which he's already served. He will be allowed to serve the rest on work release, Gnoss ordered.

Bittner could face two to four years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 18.