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NY Grand Jury Gets it Wrong in Garner Case
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
December 8, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Delivering a “no true bill” or acquittal on the July
17 chokehold death of 43-year-old African American Eric Garner, a Staten Island
Grand Jury Dec. 3 refused to indict 29-year-old NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo. Like the Ferguson, Mo. grand jury
that refused to charge 28-year-old officer Darren Wilson Nov. 24 in the Aug. 9
shooting death of 18-year-old black teenager Michael Brown, both officers were
allowed to testify before the grand juries without any cross examination. Both officers insisted they did
nothing wrong, faithfully executing their police duties. In both cases, the victims were
engaged in petty crimes yet wound up losing their lives. Brown allegedly stole a pack of
Swishers Cigarillos and Garner, ironically, sold untaxed cigarettes. Unlike Brown’s death in Ferguson
lacking video evidence, Garner’s July 17 chokehold death included a complete
amateur video of the incident.
Pantaleo told the Staten Island grand jury “it was never my intention to
harm anyone and I feel very badly about the death of Mr. Garner . . “ Whether or not Pantaleo intended to harm Garner, the grand jury simply had to bind
him over for trial to let a real jury decide his guilt of innocence. “There’s no doubt in my mind or the
mind of all the people out there in the world that what they saw in that video
cannot be disputed,” said Garner’s widow, Esaw. When conservative Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia condemned the Ferguson
grand jury for allowing Wilson’s testimony without cross examination, the same
rule applied in Staten Island. No grand jury should have heard Pantaleo’s testimony without cross-examination. “My family and I include him and his
family in our prayers and hope that hey will accept my personal condolences for
their loss,” read Pantaleo’s press statement.
Two verdicts by grand juries within two weeks refusing to indict white
police officers for killing unarmed black suspects sparked riots and protests
around the country. “It’s time for
a national march to deal with a national crisis,” said civil rights activist New
York-based Rev. Al Sharpton.
Holding national rallies should help put grand juries under the microscope where
they often get the verdicts wrong, siding too often with law enforcement. When it came to Garner’s death, the
video showed Pantaleo applying a lethal chokehold resulting his death by
asphyxiation. Staten Island
District Atty. Daniel Donovan offered condolences to Garner’s family but no
apologies for the grand jury that worked from Sept. 29 reaching its decision
Dec. 3. What Donovan won’t admit is
the inappropriate use of Pantaleo’s testimony and presenting controversial
medical findings to grand jurors.
Blaming Garner’s death on poor health, the NYPD denied that Pantaleo used
a chokehold, despite the clear video evidence.
Like infamous March 3, 1991 Rodney King beating, whose acquittal of white
police officers in Simi Valley, Calif., April 29, 1992 sparked nationwide riots,
grand jurors reinterpreted obvious video evidence. Officers in the King video argued
that they were simply subduing an unruly suspect, while a gang of police
officers beat, kicked and pounded King with batons. When a white Simi Valley acquitted
the defendants Los Angeles broke out in riots causing 53 deaths and over $1
billion in property damage. While
Garner’s grand jury acquittal hasn’t come close to that, there’s a disconnect
between how grand juries get their it wrong, failing to indict officers in
obvious cases. “There are no
winners here today,” said Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assn. President Patrick Lynch.
Letting Panatelo testify with no cross-examination gave him an unfair
advantage to grand jurors—the same thing that happened in Ferguson. After denying the use of a
chokehold, the NYPD continued to make excuses for Garner’s death. Killing a suspect when his only crime was selling untaxed cigarettes can’t be considered
competent policing. Offering up a coroner’s report that attributed the death partly to Garner’s obesity or
medical issues obscured the obvious facts.
Whatever Garner’s weight or medical condition, Pantaleo’s chokehold cut
off his oxygen enough to cause his death.
Most jury awards in medical malpractice cases don’t blame patient’s
medical conditions or biologic vulnerability for deaths at the hands of
well-intentioned physicians.
Whatever Garner’s weight or medical condition should have been stricken as
inadmissible to State Island grand jurors.
New York Major Bill de Blasio was all apologies after the grand jury’s
vote of “no true bill” or decision not to indict NYPD patrolman Daniel Panteleo. After the NYPD emphatically denied
any wrongdoing to grand jurors, de Blasio and the NYPD admitted that reforms
were underway to “ensure we don’t endure tragedies like this one again in the
future. Be we also know that this
chapter is not yet complete,” hinting at possible federal prosecution. What’s most tragic is that a petty
crime morphed into a death of an unarmed citizen. If the NYPD were really so contrite,
the DA would have let the Garner case go to trial. Whatever happens at trial is
anyone’s guess. Given the
compelling video evidence, letting Pantaleo off showed a complete failure of the
grand jury system. Staten Island DA
Donovan abused the grand jury proceeding, causing undue bias against Garner.
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