Gwen Carr Photo:William Farrington
The closing arguments in the PO Pantaleo disciplinary trial were reported by: Wall Street Journal, Daily News, Post, Newsday, Times Union, Gothamist and Courthouse News. Radio and TV stories were aired on: PIX 11; News 12 the Bronx, New York 1 News, WNYC radio, News radio 880, ABC 7 TV, NBC 4 TV, WINS radio and Fox 5 news.
Eric Garner’s mom stormed out of an NYPD courtroom on Thursday during closing arguments defending the cop accused of putting her son in a banned chokehold that led to his death.
Gwen Carr declared, “I can’t listen to this!” and called defense lawyer Stuart London a “snake” as she left the departmental trial of Officer Daniel Pantaleo.
Carr’s outburst came after London insisted Pantaleo had made a “lawful arrest” of Garner in 2014 on Staten Island.
The arrest sparked widespread outrage after cellphone video emerged showing Garner pinned and repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe!”
London, who claims Pantaleo used a department-approved “seat-belt hold” on Garner, also alleged that Dr. Floriana Persechino, a city medical examiner, “worked backward” from the video to prepare an incriminating autopsy report.
Civilian Complaint Review Board prosecutor Suzanne O’Hare argued, “If, in fact, he was using a seat-belt takedown, it almost immediately went wrong . . . and it quickly became a chokehold.”