No Federal Charges For NYPD Officer In Eric Garner’s Death
[guest post by Dana]
The decision comes one day before the deadline for charges to be filed:
A New York City police officer will not face federal charges in the death of Eric Garner, the unarmed black man heard in a video repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe” after he was put in an apparent chokehold, according to a person familiar with the case.
The Justice Department on Tuesday concluded its five-year investigation and will not bring civil rights or criminal charges against NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was seen in the video with his arm around Garner’s neck.
This is rather interesting:
Attorney General William Barr made the decision not to bring charges against Pantaleo, siding with a Justice Department team from New York over the Civil Rights Division in Washington, due to concerns that prosecutors could not successfully prove the officer acted willfully, a senior Justice Department official said.
However:
[A]ttorneys in the Civil Rights Division thought charges could have been filed, according to two DOJ officials.
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue said today:
“Like many of you, I have watched that video many times, and each time I’ve watched it, I’m left with the same reaction: that the death of Eric Garner was a tragedy,” Donoghue said. “The job of a federal prosecutor, however, is not to let our emotions dictate our decisions. Our job is to review the evidence gathered during the investigation, like the video, to assess whether we can prove that a federal crime was committed.”
“The video and the other evidence gathered in the investigation does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pantaleo acted willfully in violation of federal law,” Donoghue said.
Garner’s cause of death was listed by the city’s medical examiner as a “compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.”
Officer Pantaleo was stripped of his gun and badge and was placed on desk duty in 2014. At that time, the president of the city’s largest police union called Pantaleo’s reassignment a “completely unwarranted, knee-jerk reaction.”
Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner said today about the decision:
We’re here with heavy hearts because the DOJ has failed us. Although we looked for better from them, five years ago my son said ‘I can’t breathe’ 11 times, and today we can’t breathe because they have let us down.
Tomorrow will mark five years since Garner’s death.
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (bb0678) — 7/16/2019 @ 1:50 pmChokeholds were supposed to be banned by the NYPD, 25 years ago, for exactly the reason why this guy died due to it. https://web.archive.org/web/20150726014849/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/24/nyregion/kelly-bans-choke-holds-by-officers.html
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 7/16/2019 @ 1:59 pmCol. Klink,
The NYPD spent $35 million to retrain cops to avoid using chokeholds, but they continue to use them anyway. There had a been a blanket ban put in place on the tactic in 1993, but Chief Bratton changed the policy in 2016 allowing an “exigent circumstances” exemption. In 2018, there were 133 complaints made against officers using chokeholds.
Dana (bb0678) — 7/16/2019 @ 2:09 pmWhere’s the anger for NY lawmakers for turning the police into tax enforcers?
It’s the policies like this that increases friction between state-actors and the public.
whembly (51f28e) — 7/16/2019 @ 2:11 pmIf the man couldn’t breathe
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/16/2019 @ 2:43 pmBetter cough up some cheese
So, it was found innocent by the NYC judicial system and this was the 2nd bite of the apple. And it supposedly not “Double Jeopardy” because it was about civil rights and federal law. The policeman was ORDERED to use a so-called Choke-hold by a Female Black Sargent. So how his death is a matter of civil rights is beyond. Also good to know that if a white guy like me gets the same treatment, I’m outta luck. Its just a white policeman making a mistake. BTW, how many $millions did his family get in the wrongful death settlement?
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 2:46 pmHe seems to have died of medical malpractice. The EMT’s did nothing to save him, and he was pronounced DOA at the Hospital.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 2:54 pmSince we’re going down memory lane you may remember this from December 2014:
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 2:59 pmthere is that, but there was also Loretta lynch’s extortion scheme, re the weiner laptop,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/16/2019 @ 3:00 pmI saw the video five years ago and I just re-watched it. No one ordered Pantaleo to use a chokehold, black female or otherwise. He confronted Garner, then choked the kid to death. It was his choice to use that maneuver, no one else’s. Sgt. Adonis was restricted to desk duty because she was in charge and failed to supervise the scene.
Paul Montagu (fc91e5) — 7/16/2019 @ 3:49 pmI watched it too, Paul. Your observations match mine.
Dana (bb0678) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:03 pm@ rc ocean,
You must have missed this part of the post:
Dana (bb0678) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:04 pmThat’s just wrong. Medical examiners too are sometimes affected by publitiy.
Eric Garner had an asthma attack, brought on by the stress of being pulled down by the
policeman. In no way did anything the policeman do stop him from breathing.
And then they thought he was playing possum in an act of civil disobedeince, which this had sort of started as.
He was killed by the same thing that killed his daughter.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/nyregion/erica-garner-dead.html
The family still didn’t admit the truth
Sammy Finkelman (dec35d) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:18 pmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/nyregion/eric-garner-death-daniel-pantaleo-chokehold.html
Of course. But it was not reasonably to be ecpected.
His daughter died the same way, without any policeman starting the cascade of events.
Sammy Finkelman (dec35d) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:24 pmSammy, the Medical Examiner concluded that Garner died of an asthma attack brought on by the chokehold, which triggered a “lethal cascade” of events. She testified under oath that “the chokehold is a significant initial factor of the cascade.”
Paul Montagu (fc91e5) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:36 pmYes, she didn’t order the choke-hold. Kizzy Adonis the black female Sargent ordered the arrest. She also did nothing while the so-called choke hold was applied. And did not stop her subordinate from applying it. Further, she did not order CPR to be administered – instead she waited for the Ambulance to arrive.
No one seems to explain why the EMT did NOTHING even though Garner was supposedly dead and chocked to death. They didn’t even think he was dead until they arrived at the Hospital.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:39 pmBTw, why is Google constantly highlighting the NYT’s like they are the ONLY News source? Its either that or the WaPo or CNN or the 3 networks. I’d like to see the actual Police documents – but i guess that’s impossible.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:41 pmFrom the M.E. spokeswoman at the time:
This adds context:
Dana (bb0678) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:42 pm#15 So, in other words its just what i stated. He died of a heart attack and not a choke hold. He didn’t Choke to death. He had an asthma attack – and then a heart attack that was brought on by the choking.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:43 pmAnd if he’d gotten proper medical care – he probably would be alive.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:43 pmJust like if I throw you off a building, the cause of death is impact with the ground, so I’m fine.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:46 pmi can see why the grand jury refused to indict. 4 cops are struggling with Garner under the supervision of their black female Sargent and only one white cop who’s committed “homicide”. Ridiculous.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:48 pmIt would actually be helpful to read the link on the ME’s testimony. Garner died of an asthma attack–not a heart attack–brought on by the chokehold.
Paul Montagu (fc91e5) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:51 pmAs for the EMTs, they came into the situation without NYPD telling them the gravity of the situation.
The blame should really go to the obvious culprit: Pantaleo, for using an illegal chokehold. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have backup.
Paul Montagu (fc91e5) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:56 pmNobody should dispute that Pantaleo committed homicide—that fact was determined Aug. 1.
Errm, no. Whether somebody committed homicide is determined beyond a reasonable doubt by a judge or jury following a trial. No such trial took place. In fact, the opposite happened. A grand jury “exonerated” Pantaleo, even after hearing the ME, by finding that there was no probable cause to hold him for trial on a charge of homicide.
Moreover, Garner was not a “kid”. He was 43 yeas old and weighed 395 pounds. Pantaleo was 29 and less than half his size. Possibly another reason why the grand jury was not going to make him the fall guy. And here’s a little bit more on “the kid”:
nk (dbc370) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:58 pmAnd since, according to their own testimony, not a single officer knew that, it matters not one whit.
And as was explained above:
His actions caused the death of another, homicide, the justice system chose not to prosecute him for it, two things can be true at once. Also, Pantaleo isn’t some poster boy for good behavior.
So bad decisions by two allegedly bad guys=tragedy.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 7/16/2019 @ 5:25 pmWhen I was commenting at dKos before Kos kicked me out, one of the commenters stated that Laura Bush committed a homicide when she was 17, which got my hackles up but is nevertheless technically true. She committed an act that caused the death of another person, but it was a tragic accident, not a crime whatsoever.
Paul Montagu (fc91e5) — 7/16/2019 @ 5:32 pmIt still requires proximate cause. “X did this and that’s why Y died.”
Legally, that’s babble, not proximate cause.
nk (dbc370) — 7/16/2019 @ 5:46 pmI am learning that nk is smart, funny and formidable.
Paul Montagu (fc91e5) — 7/16/2019 @ 6:02 pmThanks for posting this. But once again we’re back to the New York Times AGAIN – this time via PBS. LOL. And what’s with the weird English. “There are no..”? Why does Muller, from NYT, keep switching between present and past tense? Anyway, “communication breakdowns” is just an excuse. Obviously, the first thing they should have done is taken his vital signs and determined if he was breathing, had a heart beat, was responsive, etc.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 6:43 pmAnd if the police did NOT tell the EMT”s how grave the situation was, that was the Police Sargent’s fault, It wasn’t the job of the low ranked subordinate.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 6:47 pmBecause
Therefor, when sued for wrongful death
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 7/16/2019 @ 6:59 pm16. rcocean (1a839e) — 7/16/2019 @ 4:39 pm
That’s easy. They thought he was playing possum, in order to make the arrest more difficult. People do that sometimes when they oppose a law. Eric Garner had said this stops now.
They gently asked him to get up.
He wasn’t supposedly choked to death. It was an asthma attack, brought u, true by the stress. Several different policemen were sitting on him for about seven seconds. When they let him go, he said :”I can’t breathe.”
Eric Garner did not have an asthma inhaler – he just didn’t have any such thing because his asthmas was untreated, and probably he didn’t want to be diagnosed that way.
I think they may have looked for an asthma inhaler. They didn’t find one.
They didn’t imagine he could die. They thought he was engaged in civil disobedience.
Sammy Finkelman (0cf810) — 7/17/2019 @ 3:29 pm