New York City lost its bid to block a judicial inquiry into allegations that city officials — including Mayor Bill de Blasio — neglected and violated their duty to fully investigate Eric Garner’s fatal 2014 arrest, an appellate court ruled Thursday.
Garner’s family and activists in September won their request to force a review into the actions of de Blasio, then-Police Commissioner James O’Neill, and other officials in the handling of Garner’s July 17, 2014, death on Staten Island.
The Appellate Division, First Department on Thursday shot down the city’s appeal of the ruling, finding that a public review is needed “to bring transparency to a matter of profound public importance,” the unanimous decision reads.
“Garner’s death may have set the stage for a debate about the role of race in policing,” the ruling states.
“His repeated last words — ‘I can’t breathe’ — have become a rallying cry against excessive force by police,” it continues.
“Viewed in this context, the issues raised in the arrest and death of Garner and its aftermath are of the greatest significance.”
Garner, 43, died after he was put in a chokehold — a move that is prohibited — by an NYPD officer while being arrested on suspicion of illegally selling loose cigarettes.
However, the inquiry, which is scheduled for October, must be limited to exploring four topics — including the alleged mishandling of and use of force by police during the fatal arrest; the official documents that were filed over the incident; the alleged leaking of Garner’s arrest history, medical conditions and autopsy report; and the alleged lack of medical care provided to Garner.
Garner’s family has said in court papers that they will seek testimony from de Blasio, O’Neill, former Police Commission William Bratton and the current Commissioner Dermot Shea because they played “a central role in the events described in the petition,” court papers from last week alleged.
Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, said in a statement that the ruling affirms that she and “New Yorkers deserve answers.”
The family’s lawyer Alvin Bragg — Manhattan’s next district attorney, set to take office in January — told The Post by phone, “We are pleased and we look forward to going forward with the inquiry scheduled in October. This is a very significant matter for which an inquiry should happen.”
Bragg is representing the plaintiffs in his current position as co-director of the Racial Justice Project at New York Law School.
A spokesman for the city Law Department insisted there is no evidence of negligence and said it is reviewing legal options.
“So much information about this incident has been made publicly available and there is no evidence that the Mayor or any other senior city official neglected their duties or violated the law,” the Law Department said in a statement.
“We argued that the summary inquiry that the petitioners sought was outside the scope of this very narrow and rarely used type of proceeding,” the statement continued. “The court acknowledged that summary inquiries should remain exceedingly rare, but concluded that this one is exceptional and should go forward.”
The NYPD deferred comment to the Law Department.
City Hall did not immediately return a request for comment.
O’Neill fired cop Daniel Pantaleo in August 2019 over the incident, but a grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo and the US Department of Justice chose not to bring a civil-rights case against him.
Garner’s family’s suit, which was filed in August 2019, claimed that the department trial for Pantaleo raised questions about alleged false statements made by cops and about an alleged effort to cover up any wrongdoing during Garner’s arrest.
The suit also claimed that the city released “scant” information and records about the arrest — which was caught on video with Garner heard repeating, “I can’t breathe!”
