Here We Go Again: Grand Jury Won't Indict NYPD Officer In Eric Garner's Murder by Strangulation

[99th_Monkey]

Grand Jury Won't Indict NYPD Officer In Eric Garner Chokehold Death
John Del Signore * Gothamist News * Dec 3, 2014

The grand jury tasked with deciding whether to indict an NYPD officer in the death of a Staten Island man this summer has reached a decision. NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo will not be charged in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, sources tell the NY Post, the NY Times, and the Daily News.

The grand jury voted to bring no charges against Officer Pantaleo. The Medical Examiner determined Garner's death a homicide. Chokeholds are prohibited by the NYPD. At a press conference the day after Garner's death, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said, "this would appear to have been a chokehold as defined in the department's patrol guide. But the investigation will seek to confirm that."

The grand jury convened in August, about a month after Garner's death. Garner had allegedly been selling illegal untaxed cigarettes on a Staten Island sidewalk, where police, acting on a complaint from a business owner, approached him. The fatal arrest was captured on video by a witness, and raised questions about how Garner's death would have been handled had the video not been widely publicized. The initial police report about the incident, for instance, makes no mention of the use of a chokehold.

Pantaleo, the Times reports, faces potential punishment from the Police Department, including possible termination. He was stripped of his badge and gun following Garner's death.

http://gothamist.com/2014/12/03/eric_garner_grand_jury.php

[TexasProgresive]

1. Prosecutors aren't interested in trying cops.

Grand juries are run by prosecutors. So that means grand juries no-bill cops. The more I learn about how grand juries work the more I think they should be eliminated.

[99th_Monkey]

2. By definition (and job description) DAs and Cops are 'ON THE SAME TEAM"

This in turn, means cops "walk" for cold blooded murder, unless and until we come up with
an ironclad new law requiring the appointment of a special prosecutor in ALL cases involving
police abuse and killing of unarmed citizens.

[azmom]

3. They are on the same team.

I think they just made that clear for anyone to see. It's a travesty.