THE NYPD OFFICER WHO EMPLOYED A PROHIBITED CHOKEHOLD ON ERIC GARNER, WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO ERIC’S DEATH, WAS PROPERLY DISMISSED FROM THE NYPD (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department determined the police officer who employed a prohibited chokehold on Eric Garner, which contributed to Eric’s death, was properly dismissed from employment by the New York Police Department (NYPD):
Substantial evidence supports respondents’ conclusion that petitioner recklessly caused injury to Eric Garner by maintaining a prohibited chokehold for 9 to 10 seconds after exigent circumstances were no longer present, thereby disregarding the risk of injury (Penal Law §§ 15.05[3]; 120.00[2] …).
We do not find the penalty “so disproportionate to the offense, in light of all the circumstances, as to be shocking to one’s sense of fairness” … . Conduct far less serious than petitioner’s has been found by the Court of Appeals to have a “destructive impact . . . on the confidence which it is so important for the public to have in its police officers” … . Matter of Pantaleo v O’Neill, 2021 NY Slip Op 01857, First Dept 3-25-21
