CNN reported on August 1, 2014 that 43-year-old Eric Garner died on July 17 after being confronted by police on Staten Island for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally. As police officers approached Garner he raised both hands in the air and told the officers not to touch him. Moments later, a video recording shows an officer grabbing the 350-pound man from behind in a choke hold and wrestled him to the ground, rolling him onto his stomach.
CNN News also reports that the video has Eric crying repeatedly that he could not breathe until his last gasp.
Evidence and Applicable Laws
Julie Bolcer, a representative of the NY medical examiner 's office confirmed that the cause of death was "compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police." The death was definite as a homicide which was cause for a federal investigation.7 Chokeholds were banned in the New York Police Department in 1993. The N.Y.P.D Patrol Guide procedure 203-11 states that members of the New York City Police Department will not use chokeholds. A chokehold shall include,
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One of the primary differences was that the Officer facing the indictment provided almost four hours of testimony in contrast to other cases where the defendants either were not given the opportunity or chose not to give testimony to the grand jury. Also unlike the Eric Garner case, the grand jury released all the evidence and testimony after the grand jury decision was made. They were able to review photos of where the incident took place, the results of the autopsy and the testimony of 60 witnesses. The grand jury had to decide whether or not there was probable cause for Officer Wilson to fire twelve shots at unarmed Mike Brown to protect himself from harm. The evidence did indicate that Brown was moving towards the officer as the rounds were being