NEW YORK (AP) — An appeals court is revisiting the issue of whether the grand jury record in the Eric Garner chokehold death case should stay sealed.
The three-judge panel is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday morning in Brooklyn.
A judge on Staten Island had ruled in March that the records would remain under seal. The parties seeking the release of the minutes appealed. They include the New York Civil Liberties Union, Legal Aid Society and the Public Advocate’s office.
Officer Daniel Pantaleo and other officers had stopped Garner last summer on suspicion of illegal cigarette sales. A video from an onlooker shows that in the course of taking Garner into custody, Pantaleo wrapped his arm around Garner’s neck. Garner, who had asthma, was heard on the tape gasping, “I can’t breathe.” He lost consciousness and died.
The NYCLU and others had asked the court to order Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan to release the grand jury transcript, including the testimony of the officer and dozens of witnesses, detailed descriptions of evidence and other documentation.
State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett ruled the plaintiffs would have had to establish a “compelling and particularized need” for the release, and that their arguments that it was in the public interest didn’t meet that standard.
The death of Garner, who was black, at the involvement of a white officer was among the cases that sparked a nationwide debate about how police and communities of color interact.
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(Photo Source: AP)
