A state appellate court on Wednesday upheld a Staten Island justice’s ruling which denied the release of the Eric Garner grand jury minutes.
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“The public interest in disclosure was outweighed by the dangers inherent in violating the secrecy of the grand jury proceeding”, judges in the state Supreme Court Appellate Division’s Second Department wrote.
Public Advocate Letitia James said she would continue “to pursue the release of the Eric Garner Grand Jury minutes”. A lower-court judge declined in March to release the testimony following Eric Garner’s death, citing longstanding principles of grand jury secrecy.
Garner’s death on Staten Island on July 17, 2014, rekindled a nationwide debate about police abuse that followed the decision by a grand jury in Missouri not to charge a white police officer over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.
It was ruled by the medical examiner that Garner died because of neck compressions caused by the chokehold and the way he was positioned while being restrained.
In the video, Garner wheezed “I can’t breathe” after a confrontation that was originally non-violent with the officers, one of which put him in a choke hold and pulled him to the ground. “In order to address such issues it is important to know how and why the grand jury reached the decision that it did”.
Later that month, after two policemen were slain by a gunman who had posted anti-cop rants online, officers turned their backs on De Blasio at the funerals to protest what they said was the mayor’s lack of support.
The NYCLU said it will also appeal the ruling.
Looking at the grand jury records, Brinckerhoff argued, would be helpful to James and other elected officials in their efforts to shape grand jury reform. Prosecutors said the video showed that the officer, Ray Tensing, was out of line when he opened fire on Samuel DuBose during a July 19 traffic stop. Garner’s mother and widow, though, have said they won’t stop protesting until someone is indicted in Garner’s death.
Shortly after that decision, a judge released limited information about the grand jury, including that there were 50 witnesses and 60 exhibits presented. The case will now head to the New York Court of Appeals.
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Richmond County Dist. Atty. A special grand jury convened by then-Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan voted not to indict Pantaleo in December after nine weeks of deliberations. But the court allowed Donovan to disclose only what type of evidence the jurors reviewed and the number of witnesses they heard testify.
