NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill declined to say Wednesday if he’ll follow a deputy’s recommendation regarding potential discipline of the cop accused of using a banned chokehold during the deadly arrest of Eric Garner.
“The trial’s ongoing right now. I’m not going to prejudge anything that’s going on,” O’Neill said following a City Hall budget hearing.
Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado is hearing evidence against Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner, who was recorded on cellphone video repeatedly yelling “I can’t breathe!” while getting busted on Staten Island on July 17, 2014.
Following Pantaleo’s departmental trial, Maldonado will submit her findings to O’Neill.
In the event she finds Pantaleo guilty, Maldonado will also recommend punishment, up to and including firing.
But O’Neill will be free to overrule those recommendations and make his own decisions on both guilt and punishment, according to the NYPD.