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New York Judge William Garnett has refused to make public the evidence a grand jury heard about Eric Garner’s death in a police “chokehold”.
Judge William Garnett said those suing did not make a “compelling and particularized need” to release the records, which are usually kept secret.
The jury did not charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo for Eric Garner’s death.
Eric Garner’s death, alongside other similar cases, led to nationwide protests over police brutality.
The black man was stopped by police for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island in August and placed in a chokehold by Daniel Pantaleo.
In a witness video, Eric Garner, who had asthma, is heard saying “I can’t breathe”. A city medical officer later ruled the death a homicide stemming from the effects of the chokehold.
The New York Civil Liberties Union and other groups who argued for the records’ release said there was a need to reconcile the widely watched video of the arrest with the decision not to indict.
Richmond County District Attorney Daniel Donovan said those who testified had an expectation of secrecy, and making their testimony public could damage the credibility of prosecutors in the future.
In statement on March 19, Daniel Donovan’s office said: “We respect and will adhere to Judge Garnett’s well-reasoned decision.”
Similar records were released for a Missouri grand jury investigating the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson.
St Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch released the records, with witness names redacted, after the jury declined to charge Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, 18.
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A New York judge is hearing arguments over whether to disclose records of the secret grand jury proceedings in the case of black man Eric Garner who was killed by a white police officer.
The panel declined to bring charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo for putting Eric Garner in a chokehold that led to his death.
The prosecutor opposes the move, saying it will hamper witness co-operation.
Similar records were released for a Missouri grand jury investigating the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
St Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch released the records, with witness names redacted, after the jury declined to charge Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson.
Michael Brown and Eric Garner’s death sparked protests across the US about police killings and police relations with black and other minority communities.
Eric Garner, 43, was stopped by police for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island in August and placed in a chokehold by Mr Pantaleo.
In a witness video, Eric Garner, who had asthma, is heard saying “I can’t breathe”. A city medical officer later ruled the death a homicide stemming from the effects of the chokehold.
The US justice department has launched a civil rights investigation in the case.
The New York Civil Liberties Union and other groups who are suing cited the outcry over the Garner grand jury’s decision not to indict despite the video of the incident, as a compelling exception to the normal secrecy of the grand jury.
Disclosure is needed “to restore public confidence in our criminal justice system and to inform the current debate that has begun regarding the role of the grand jury as an instrument of justice or injustice” NYCLU argues in court documents.
The office of Richmond County District Attorney Daniel Donovan said grand jury witnesses in the case came forward to testify “with full assurances of secrecy”.
Making the records public, they argued, would bring an “inevitable result of harassment or retaliation” and a “chilling effect on the very type of witness cooperation that is most desired and the most difficult to obtain”.
Judge William Garnett will hear arguments in the case on Thursday.
The NYCLU cites the decision of Missouri prosecutors to release panel detail in the Wilson case as precedent, but Daniel Donovan says that was also the wrong decision.
News outlets, Daniel Donovan argued, compromised witness anonymity in Missouri by their reporting of the grand jury proceedings and the same could happen in New York.
Fresh protests have been held in New York and across the US for a second night over the death of Eric Garner, a black man held in an apparent chokehold by a white New York police officer.
Thousands of people took to the streets in New York and other cities, disrupting traffic and holding sit-ins.
The protests began on December 3, after a grand jury decided not to press charges over the death of Eric Garner.
Civil rights activists are pinning their hopes on a federal investigation into the case.
The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, said the city’s 22,000-strong police force would be retrained in how to better communicate and remain calm when making arrests, and they will be fitted with body cameras.
President Barack Obama welcomed Bill de Blasio’s commitment to act, adding: “Too many Americans feel deep unfairness when it comes to the gap between our professed ideals and how laws are applied on a day to day basis.”
America saw a wave of race-related unrest only last week over the decision not to indict another white police officer who had shot dead a young black man, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri.
UN human rights experts have expressed “legitimate concerns” over the decisions not to bring to trial the cases of both Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
Photo AP
On Thursday night in New York, protesters carried coffins across the Brooklyn Bridge and marched in several groups through Manhattan, carrying banners saying “Racism kills” and “This stops today”.
Police in riot gear told protesters staging sit-ins that they would face arrest if they did not move along. Police arrested more than 80 people in Wednesday’s protests, though the demonstrations have been largely peaceful.
Smaller-scale protests were held in cities including Chicago, Washington, Denver, and Boston. In Minneapolis, some protesters blocked traffic by marching or lying in the middle of a highway.
Activists have called for another march in Washington on December 13, followed by a summit on civil rights.
EricGarner, 43, was stopped on a street in New York on July 17 on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.
After a confrontation with police officer Daniel Pantaleo placed his arm round Eric Garner’s neck. Eric Garner, who had asthma, was wrestled to the ground and restrained by force.
On video of the incident, he can be heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe”. He became unresponsive and later died.
The city’s medical examiner’s office found in the summer that Eric Garner’s death was caused by “the compression of his chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police”.
Police unions and Daniel Pantaleo’s lawyer have said that he used an accepted takedown maneuver on Eric Garner, rather than a chokehold, which is banned under New York City police regulations.
District attorney Daniel Donovan sought to defend the grand jury decision not to bring charges.
Daniel Pantaleo admitted hearing Eric Garner say “I can’t breathe” but said he had believed that once he got him down on the ground and put him on his side, he would be revived by paramedics.
The police officer also testified that he had tried in vain to talk Eric Garner into complying with police instructions – something not seen on the video.
“Let’s make this easy, you’ve been through this before,” the police officer is said to have told Eric Garner.
Attorney General Eric Holder promised “an independent, thorough, fair and expeditious” federal investigation into potential civil rights violations in the case.
A review of how to heal a “breakdown in trust” between police and communities is also under way.
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A civil rights investigation into the death of Eric Garner, a black man who was placed in an apparent chokehold by a white New York police officer, is to be launched by the US Justice Department.
The inquiry was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder after a grand jury decided against charging the officer.
That decision prompted street protests in New York. Activists have called for a march in Washington next week.
President Barack Obama said the case “speaks to larger issues”.
The decision not to charge the officer came just a week after another grand jury, in Ferguson, Missouri, decided not to charge a white police officer who shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown.
The ruling into the death of Michael Brown in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson sparked riots and protests across the country.
Eric Garner, 43, was stopped on a street in New York on July 17 on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.
The case drew attention when mobile phone video of police officer Daniel Pantaleo arresting Eric Garner surfaced.
The video shows a lengthy exchange between Eric Garner and police, during which he verbally refuses to be handcuffed.
Several officers then move to restrain Eric Garner, with Daniel Pantaleo holding him by the neck.
The detainee, who is asthmatic, can be heard shouting: “I can’t breathe!”
That cry was echoed by protesters who marched through the streets in New York late on Wednesday, occasionally disrupting traffic. They chanted “I can’t breathe!” and “Hands up – don’t choke!”
Attorney General Eric Holder announced “an independent, thorough, fair and expeditious” investigation into potential civil rights violations in the case.
The justice department, he said, would conduct a “complete review” of material gathered in the local investigation.
“All lives must be valued – all lives,” Eric Holder added.
Urging demonstrators to remain peaceful, he said he was continuing a review of how to heal a “breakdown in trust” between police and communities.
After the grand jury decision President Obama said: “When anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that is a problem, and it’s my job as president to help solve it.”
Eric Garner family lawyer Jonathon Moore said he was “astonished” by it.
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