On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a black man, died in Tomkinsville-a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, after police officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in a chokehold.
Thankfully, the whole attack was caught on video.
On December 3, a Grand Jury decided NOT to indict Pantaleo on any charge.
In case you're the average American nd don't really know what this means-it is NOT a proper trial or anything of the sort, it is the first step in the felony trial process. The Grand Jury actually has a LOWER standard of proof, meaning instead of finding they believe someone did something "beyond a reasonable doubt" (a higher, criminal trial standard), they only need to have a, generally, found that there is "probable cause" to believe that someone did something, can be charged with a certain charge, etc.
The fact that this did not happen is what is referred to in legal circles as "bullshit".
Having myself spent 3 years studying law culminating in the dubious achievement of a Juris Doctorate (no, you don't have to call me "Doctor" anything, unless im trying to get reservations), I have a slightly better idea of how wrong the decision was. Since this is truly upsetting, I'm going to explain EXACTLY why Pantaleo should not only have been indicted, but CONVICTED of Murdering another human being.
Now, in the general legal understanding of criminal law, there are three elements of ANY crime: Mens Rhea, Actus Rheus, and Causation. Just to be unnecessarily obtuse and confusing, the legal community continues to employ a dead language even in 2014. Since NO ONE speaks Latin, its necessary to explain that Mens Rhea is the mental element, or the "criminal's" intent-meaning they meant to do the Actus. The Actus Rheus is, surprisingly, the act. If the "criminal" intends to do something, but only dreams and never does-this element has not been satisfied. Of course these both must concur, or happen at once to apply. Although the third element, causation, is not latin, it can be confusing. In this context, for causation to be satisfied, the "crime" must actually be caused by the "criminal" and his Mens and Actus-basically IF without the "criminal's" intervention, the crime would not have occurred-then causation is satisfied.
In particular, Murder is described as "the unlawful killing, with malicec aforethought, of another human being". This means Murder's particular elements (the particular things that comprise the crime of murder, as opposed to the crime of jaywalking, etc) are as follows:
-Unlawful : basically, its not Self-Defense, or War
-Killing : the victim is dead,, otherwise I suppose you'd be dealing with assault and so forth
-With Malice Aforethought : in other words, the accused didn't kill someone by accident, or so quickly that it was a reflex, etc
-of Human Being: This means, for those of you, and we KNOW you ARE out there-who think that certain ethnicities aren't human beings, THEY MOST DEFINATELY ARE.
In case the Tomkinsville Grand Jury members are capable of reading, here's why Mr. Pantaleo should have been CONVICTED of Murder:
1. His actions satisfy the Actus Rheus of Murder, the killing, because he was the one "applying" the "chokehold", or just plain CHOKING, Eric Garner.
2. He satisfies the Mens Rheus, or had Malice Aforethought, because he plainly heard Eric Garner, ELEVEN (11) TIMES say "I can't breathe", and he did NOT release Mr Garner. Nor his continued choking necessary to "defend himself", as there were FOUR (4) other officers immediately present, Mr. Garner was plainly no longer ANY kind of threat as he was face was down, on the pavement-AND Mr. Pantleo was engaging in an Illegal act applying the chokehold, as it is prohibited by the law enforcement division he is employed by. (this means the apparently completely incompetent prosecutor could also have employed some type of "per se" argument)
3. Since all this happened at the same time, it's easil proven that Mr. Pantaleo also satisfies the Causation element, of Murder because Eric Garner was a human being, and the video clearly shows that Mr. Pantaleo's choking caused Mr. Garner to be unable to breathe, and, indeed, the official cause of death (notably) Homicide by asphyxiation CLEARLY proves it.
Ultimately, this simple and easy argument is crystal clear, correct, and obviously so. We, as citizens and human beings, are resultingly left to ask: "Why wasn't is successful then?" Why didn't the prosecutor resign in anger? Was he so interconnected and involved with law enforcement as he works side-by-side with them every single day...that he was unable to adequately assert a simple argument? Are we employing incompetent law enforcement? Does the acquittal mean that the law DOES NOT apply to law enforcement? Or are black men committing misdemeanors no longer human beings? Is racism STILL so prevalent in the USA as to be incorporated into law enforcement as a matter of course?
I think, if nothing else, the legacy of Eric Garner-and too, too many others-is to define and elevate the importance of those questions and others. If we let them drop, or accept the answers this acquittal (and the recent one in Ferguson) leave us with: That law enforcement is not subject to the rule of law; That ACCUSED Black misdemeanor criminals are not human beings; That the courts are not able, or, worse, unwilling, to enforce the law against their own officers; etcetera and on and on..then we are no better than the members of that grand jury, the incompetent or unwilling court, or the supportive and corrupt law enforcement in that community.
I sincerely and honestly hope that no one who reads this is capable of that.
-x
" The "Chokehold" is a tactic banned by the New York City Police Department (NYPD).[9][10]
Garner was initially approached by Officer Justin Damico on suspicion
of selling “loosies”, single cigarettes from packs without tax stamps.[11]
After Garner expressed to the police that he was tired of being
harassed and that he was not selling cigarettes, officers made the move
to arrest Garner. Officer Daniel Pantaleo, also on scene, put his arms
around the much taller Garner's neck, applying an apparent chokehold
shown in a widely viewed video recording of the event. While lying
face-down on the sidewalk surrounded by four officers, Garner is heard
to repeat numerous times, "I can't breathe".[2] Garner was pronounced dead approximately one hour later at the hospital"
--Published December 3, 2014, Wikipedia News feed
