Cop's Trial In Eric Garner Death Begins After Nearly 5 Years

NEW YORK — An administrative trial against the NYPD officer accused of choking Eric Garner began on Monday, nearly five years after the Staten Island man's death sparked mass protests against police brutality.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo faces possible termination from the Police Department in the internal trial, which is scheduled to last until May 24. The proceedings at NYPD headquarters are overseen by Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board, the city's police oversight agency, filed charges against Pantaleo in July after the NYPD informed the U.S. Department of Justice that it would launch its own disciplinary proceedings against Pantaleo.

City officials have blamed the delay on the Justice Department, which launched an investigation into Garner's death in December 2014 but still has not announced whether it will bring charges against Pantaleo. Federal officials have until July to do so.

The CCRB has accused Pantaleo of using a banned chokehold and restricting breathing as he and several other officers tried to arrest Garner for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes in July 2014. Garner repeatedly shouted "I can't breathe" as cops held him to the ground, a phrase that became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

But Pantaleo's attorney, Stuart London, has argued that the cop did not use a chokehold and did not have his arm around Garner's neck when he indicated he couldn't breathe.

The CCRB will likely call fewer than 20 witnesses during the trial while London will have up to 10, including a training sergeant who taught Pantaleo an allowed "seat-belt hold," according to the Associated Press.

A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo in 2014. While the CCRB isn't prosecuting criminal charges against him, it will have to prove that his actions constituted a crime because of a provision in the state Civil Service Law.

While Maldonado will issue a verdict in the case, Police Commissioner James O'Neill will have the ultimate authority over what punishment, if any, Pantaleo will face.

Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, has called for the NYPD to fire all the officers involved in her son's death. The Police Department has said it will proceed with a case against Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, who was a supervising officer on the scene.

"All of this needs to stop," Carr told the Associated Press. "This is very important to me for Eric, but not only for Eric — for the other families, and for the families that we know will be."