Trial Summary: Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Day 3 of Pantaleo on Trial
CCRB administrative/disciplinary prosecution of Daniel Pantaleo for killing Eric Garner – NYPD Police Commissioner O’Neill will make a final decision on disciplinary penalty for Pantaleo – if any – for killing Eric Garner.*
Wednesday, May 15, 2019 was the third day of the administrative trial of NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, related to discipline charges that the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) brought against him for using a chokehold on Eric Garner and killing him on July 17, 2014 in Staten Island.
Day 3 of the trial included one witness, called by CCRB:
- Dr. Floriana Persechino, senior medical examiner for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of NYC (OCME). Persechino is board-certified in anatomical pathology and forensic pathology, and performed the autopsy of Eric Garner.
Highlights from witness testimony and cross examination
Dr. Floriana Persechino, senior Chief Medical Examiner for OCME the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office, conducted the autopsy of Eric Garner. Dr. Persechino testified that she has conducted 3,000 to 4,000 autopsies, has testified in court as an expert witness 270 times, and has never been refused in court as an expert in the field of forensic pathology. Deputy Commissioner of Trials (DCT) Maldonado confirmed that Dr. Persechino was certified for this trial as an expert witness in forensic pathology.
During her testimony, photos of Eric Garner’s body were shown and Dr. Persechino answered questions about what she observed and her conclusions. Dr. Persechino testified that Eric Garner was put in a chokehold, which is considered a form of restraint where an upper extremity is used to compress the neck in forensic pathology. When asked if there was any doubt in her mind that Garner was put in a chokehold, Persechino replied, “No”.
She observed multiple areas of hemorrhaging of tissue in the neck, including near Adam’s apple/larynx, sternocleidomastoid muscles, etc that is indicative of a chokehold. In response to question “What was manner of death?” Dr. Persechino responded:
“Manner of death was homicide.”
Persechino testified that the chokehold initiated a lethal cascade that caused Eric Garner’s death. When asked if the chokehold alone could have caused Garner’s death, she stated that Pantaleo’s chokehold was the “significant, initial factor in the lethal cascade” that caused Garner’s death.
CCRB also played video of Eric Garner walking from earlier in the day, before Pantaleo and Officer Justin Damico approached him. She testified that Eric Garner did not appear to be in any apparent distress in that video – contradicting Pantaleo’s lawyers’ outrageous claim that Garner died because of his health, rather than because he was killed.
Under cross-examination, one of Pantaleo’s lawyers tried to question Dr. Persechino’s qualifications as a medical examiner and attempted to blame Eric Garner for his own death. Dr. Persechino stood by her conclusion that Pantaleo’s chokehold was the initial factor in the lethal cascade causing Garner’s death.
In attendance Day 2
Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, was joined today by her husband, Benjamin Carr and Eric’s cousin, Michael Garner. Others showing up to support Ms. Carr both inside and outside 1 Police Plaza included:
- Families whose loved ones were killed by police including: Iris Baez (mother of Anthony Baez), Hertencia Peterson (aunt of Akai Gurley), Hawa Bah (mother of Mohamed Bah), Valerie Bell (mother of Sean Bell), and Carl Stubbs (father of Clifford Johnson).
- Faith leaders: Rev. Herbert Daughtry/House of the Lord Church and Minister Kirsten John Foy/Arc of Justice.
- Organizations that showed up and/or provided off-site support today included the Justice Committee and other Communities United for Police Reform members/partners, including: Alliance for Quality Education, Democratic Socialists of America-NYC, Girls for Gender Equity, Justice League NYC, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Moms Rising, National Action Network, NYC Anti-Violence Project, The Peace Poets, Showing Up for Racial Justice, VOCAL-NY.
Additional Background
* NYPD Commissioner O’Neill’s decision regarding what Pantaleo’s discipline will be (if any discipline) will happen after the disciplinary trial – and could take weeks to months. O’Neill’s decision could be to implement what Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado recommends, or he can make the penalty less or more than recommended. Unless NYS law section 50-a is repealed, the Garner family and the public will never see DCT Maldonado’s findings or recommendations report to Commissioner O’Neill – or have access to the trial transcript or any motions -- unless it is leaked. As has been true with other cases in recent years, even the final discipline decision may be shielded from the public unless it is leaked, because of the NYS police secrecy law, 50-a. This is part of why Eric Garner’s mother and many others are fighting for the repeal of 50-a.
** CCRB’s prosecution of Daniel Pantaleo:
Although NYPD had the authority to charge and prosecute Pantaleo (as they do with all officers) since 2014, they did not. Be clear that this trial against Pantaleo would not be happening right now if CCRB had not pushed to make sure it was happening.
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