The white New York City police officer accused in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man in 2014 will face an NYPD disciplinary trial next May after a judge denied his request to delay it until July 2019.
Daniel Pantaleo's job status will be assessed nearly five years after Eric Garner's pleas for law enforcement to be gentle as he cried 'I can't breathe', just prior to a deadline to file civil rights charges in a federal case.
It was confirmed Thursday as the union supported Pantaleo and insisted poor health was to blame for father-of-six Garner, 43, passing away as he was held on the ground that day.
The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused in part by compression of his neck from a chokehold.
Garner suffered from asthma and was reported dead at the hospital after suffering a heart attack.
Since the incident, the suspect has been limited to desk duty and had his gun and badge removed but Garner's last words have become a rallying cry against police brutality.
The trial will start May 13 and could take about two weeks despite Pantaleo's lawyer trying to delay the department trial a couple more months, which would be when time runs out for federal prosecutors to file civil rights charges against him.
A grand jury previously declined to indict Pantaleo in December 2014. The police watchdog agency prosecuting the disciplinary case, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, is seeking transcripts of that proceeding.
If his is convicted in the May 2019 case, his punishment could be anything from losing vacation days to being fired from the NYPD.
Pantaleo is charged with reckless use of a chokehold and intentional use of a chokehold in Garner's death in Staten Island.
He could be heard on an amateur video telling those around him how he had trouble breathing after officers stopped him for selling untaxed cigarettes and handled him forcefully.
Pantaleo placed him in an apparent chokehold, which is banned under police department policy, but the defense denies he did.
Pantaleo's lawyer, Stuart London, said the officer used a takedown move taught by the police department. He claimed his client will be vindicated.
After a brief hearing, his Patrolmen's Benevolent Association union issued a statement blaming Garner for resisting arrest and suggesting his 350-pound frame and poor health was behind his death.
They said the officer used 'the least amount of force necessary' and that Garner's autopsy showed his windpipe, which could possibly be crushed in a chokehold, was intact.
'This case demonstrates the danger that is inherent in prejudging incidents absent of all the information that must be considered in order to come to a truthful and accurate conclusion,' union president Patrick Lynch said in a statement Thursday.
He attacked Garner's health, saying it was so poor that it was 'highly likely' he would've died running away even if he did manage to escape police.
'The exertion and stress would have overcome his already seriously ill body and would have resulted in his death,' he claimed.
Pantaleo, wearing a dark suit, didn't speak during the brief hearing at police headquarters and lingered in the trial room with his head down as a crowd, including Garner's relatives, emptied out.
'I felt sort of numb being in the same space as my son's murderer,' said Garner's mother, Gwen Carr.
She wants the police department to fire Pantaleo and others who were involved in her son's arrest.
Garner's family was paid $5.9 million in a civil suit settlement in 2015.
The NYPD decided in July to go forward with disciplinary proceedings, saying it was running out of patience with the federal government's indecision about whether to bring a criminal case.
The Justice Department said it already told the NYPD last spring that it could go forward.
Police Commissioner James O'Neill, who has the final say on officer discipline, said Tuesday: 'We want to get this done.'
The statute of limitations ends July 18, 2019.
Reverend Al Sharpton stood with activists while speaking during a news conference outside of New York Police headquarters and said: 'Justice delayed is justice denied.'