Grisly photos of Eric Garner’s autopsy were displayed in a police courtroom on Wednesday as a medical examiner said the chokehold allegedly applied by NYPD cop Daniel Pantaleo “set into motion a lethal sequence of events.”
Dr. Floriana Persechino’s testimony at Pantaleo’s departmental trial was illustrated by about two dozen color images from the autopsy performed on Garner, who was recorded on cellphone video shouting “I can’t breathe!” during his fatal arrest nearly five years ago.
Garner’s mom, Gwen Carr, and several supporters left the courtroom at One Police Plaza rather than see the images on a 6-by-8-foot video screen, following a warning from the bench that “they will be explicit.”
About 15 photos showed the front of Garner’s neck cut open and exposed, with the skin and successive layers of muscle peeled back.
Deep red bruising was visible on the second layer, which Persechino called “a band of hemorrhaging affecting the interior.”
On the fourth layer, there was a two-inch oval bruise that was dark purple and nearly black in color.
During questioning by the prosecution, Persechino said that Garner had a “hypersensitive airway,” and that the trauma inflicted during his July 17, 2014, arrest triggered his asthma and led to his death from a heart attack.
“The chokehold and the chest compression set into motion a lethal sequence of events,” said Persechino, who said she’d been trained to identify chokeholds from forensic evidence.
Other photos showed scrapes on Garner’s lip, right arm and right buttock, and four photos showed each of his eyelids individually peeled back and held in place with small surgical tongs held by a yellow-gloved hand.
Persechino said she found small hemorrhages in Garner’s eyes, which she called evidence that his airway had been restricted.
Another photo showed Garner’s surgically removed “neck block” — including his tongue, esophagus and trachea — lying on a stainless steel surface.
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Stuart London, Persechino said she found no damage to Garner’s trachea, larynx or hyoid bone and conceded that was “unusual” in a strangulation case.
She also testified that the “layers of fat” in Garner’s neck may have prevented those injuries.
Pantaleo is accused of using a chokehold that’s banned by the NYPD while arresting Garner on suspicion of illegally selling loose cigarettes.
The defense contends Pantaleo applied an approved “seat-belt” hold that he learned while attending the Police Academy.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Rosemarie Maldonado is presiding over the case, but her findings and any recommended punishment aren’t binding on Commissioner James O’Neill, who wouldn’t say Wednesday if he’d abide by them.
A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo on criminal charges in December 2014, and the US Justice Department hasn’t acted since announcing a civil-rights investigation.