http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/nyreg ... arner.html
No Indictment in Eric Garner Chokehold Case for N.Y.P.D. Officer
"A Staten Island grand jury voted on Wednesday not to bring criminal charges in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who died after being placed in a chokehold by a white police officer.
The decision was reached after months of testimony, including from the officer who used the chokehold, Daniel Pantaleo. The grand jury reached its decision less than two weeks after a grand jury in Ferguson, Mo., declined to bring charges against a white officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown.
An autopsy by the city’s medical examiner found that Mr. Garner’s death was a homicide resulting from the chokehold and the compression of his chest by police officers.
For days, the New York Police Department has been preparing for a new round of protests, which first began in the city after the Ferguson decision and were expected to continue and possibly grow if the grand jury declined to bring charges against the officer.
President Obama said that he was committed to making sure that this is a nation where all citizens believe “in the core principal that we are equal under the law.”
He said he had consulted with Attorney General Eric Holder about the case after the decision was announced.
“We are not going to let up until we see a strengthening of the trust and strengthening of the accountability that exists between our communities and our law enforcement,” Mr. Obama said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, saying that it was a “deeply emotional day” for the Garner family and all New Yorkers, acknowledged that many people would not agree with the grand jury’s decision.
“Today’s outcome is one that many in our city did not want,” Mr. de Blasio said in a statement. “Yet New York City owns a proud and powerful tradition of expressing ourselves through nonviolent protest. We trust that those unhappy with today’s grand jury decision will make their views known in the same peaceful, constructive way.
“We all agree that demonstrations and free speech are valuable contributions to debate, and that violence and disorder are not only wrong, but hurt the critically important goals we are trying to achieve together.”
The officer at the center of the Staten Island case released a statement offering the family of Mr. Garner his sympathies.
“I became a police officer to help people and to protect those who can’t protect themselves,” Officer Pantaleo said. “It is never my intention to harm anyone, and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner. My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss.”
Jonathan C. Moore, a lawyer for the Garner family, said they hoped that federal prosecutors would continue to examine the case, and he urged people upset by the decision to voice their dismay, but to do so peacefully.
“We’re astounded by the outcome of the grand jury process and that after hearing months of evidence and having deliberated that they would find no true bill as to any potential criminal charge,” Mr. Moore said in a phone interview.
“It’s very upsetting to us – we obviously hope that the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, Loretta Lynch, will take a close look at this.”
In Ferguson, protesters and police officers clashed in the streets almost immediately after Mr. Brown’s killing by Officer Darren Wilson in August; riots erupted on the night the grand jury’s decision was announced last month. By contrast, in late August, a demonstration on Staten Island over the death of Mr. Garner, 43, proceeded without confrontation or arrest.
Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, speaking at a news conference earlier on Wednesday, said that he expected any protests to be peaceful and that the police were prepared to deal with anyone seeking to cause trouble.
“We have had quite a bit of time to prepare for the events that will unfold here for the next few days,” Mr. Bratton said.
While seeking to ensure that people can voice their opinions, Mr. Bratton said the police would “take forceful action” against those who used the protests to break the law.
The grand jury, impanelled by the Staten Island district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr., in September, has weighed evidence, including a cellphone video recorded by bystanders of Mr. Garner’s violent arrest, and heard testimony from the officers involved.
Grand juries determine whether enough evidence exists for a case to go forward to a criminal trial, either before a jury or a judge. By law, they operate in secret and hear only evidence presented by prosecutors, who also instruct the grand jurors on the law. Defense lawyers are barred from speaking. For a decision, 12 jurors who have heard all the evidence must agree.
In a statement, Mr. Donovan said that he was constrained by law from discussing details of the case but that he had petitioned the court for “authorization to publicly release specific information in connection with this grand jury investigation.”
He expressed his condolences to the family and said that his office conducted a thorough investigation that “spanned four months.”
They conducted “over 38 interviews” and located 22 civilian witnesses, he said. Investigators also spoke with the emergency responders who provided medical treatment both at the scene and at the hospital, and expert witnesses in the area of forensic pathology, policies, procedures, and training of police officers.
“I assured the public that I was committed to a fair, thorough, and responsible investigation into Mr. Garner’s death, and that I would go wherever the evidence took me, without fear or favor,” he said. In the end, he said, the grand jury faithfully executed their duty.
An indictment was considered only against Officer Pantaleo, who testified last, on Nov. 21, his lawyer, Stuart London, said. The other officers received immunity, he said.
The case exposed apparent lapses in police tactics – chokeholds are banned by the Police Department’s own guidelines – and raised questions about the aggressive policing of minor offenses in a time of historically low crime. The officers involved, part of a plainclothes unit, suspected Mr. Garner of selling loose cigarettes on the street near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, a complaint among local business owners.
Mr. Garner’s death hastened an effort to retrain all the department’s patrol officers and brought scrutiny on how officers who violate its rules are disciplined. Officer Pantaleo has been stripped of his gun and badge.
It was unclear whether Officer Pantaleo would return to enforcement duties. Commissioner Bratton said he would remain on suspension pending an internal investigation by the Police Department.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who is scheduled to hold a news conference with Mr. Garner’s family later in the evening, said that he was not surprised by the decision and that he had little faith in local prosecutors when it came to pursuing cases against the police.
“People thought we were being extreme,” Mr. Sharpton said. “But now, I think you can see, we have no confidence in the state grand juries, whether in Ferguson or in New York, because there is an intrinsic relationship between state prosecutors and the police; they depend on the police for their evidence, they run for office and depend on the unions for endorsements.”
03 Dec 2014, 5:10 pm
