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DA Fights Motion to Move Eric Garner Hearing Off Staten Island

By Nicholas Rizzi | January 27, 2015 10:40am
 District Attorney Dan Donovan filed a motion to have a Staten Island judge decide whether grand jury testimony will be released.
District Attorney Dan Donovan filed a motion to have a Staten Island judge decide whether grand jury testimony will be released.
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DNAinfo/Nicholas Rizzi

STATEN ISLAND — A request to have a court outside Staten Island decide if the Eric Garner grand jury testimony should be released has been opposed by the borough's District Attorney.

In a motion filed Monday, DA Dan Donovan argued there was no legal reason for Staten Island courts to step aside and let another borough decide on the release of the typically secret proceedings.

On Jan. 16, the NAACP filed a petition to disqualify state Supreme Court Justice William Garnett — who was chosen to preside over the case after the original judge recused himself — and asked that the case be handled by a court elsewhere in the city.

Donovan's motion argued that the NAACP did not show any legal reasons for the case to be handled outside of the borough.

"While it may be the better practice in some situations for a court to disqualify itself in a special effort to maintain the appearance of impartiality.... petitioners point to no statutory disqualification that would be applicable here," the motion read.

"[The NAACP has] no right to the relief they seek and this Court is not obliged to recuse itself."

The motion again asked the judge not to release the grand jury minutes from the Garner case, this time pointing to the case that sparked the Crown Heights riots in 1991 instead of to last year's ruling in Ferguson, Mo.

After a grand jury ruled not to indict Yosef Lifsh after the car he was driving struck and killed Gavin Gato, 7, groups sought to release the minutes from that case but were twice denied, Donovan said in the motion.

"This case is no different; the basis for disclosure here is alleged to be the need to restore confidence in the criminal justice system," the motion read.

"That theory was rejected in 1992 and is no more convincing now." 

James Meyerson, a lawyer for the New York State Conference of the NAACP, said he wasn't surprised about Donovan's motion but wondered why he didn't respond to the NAACP's argument that Donovan be disqualified from any participation in the case.

"We think there’s good reason for him to disqualify himself," Meyerson said. "He’s part of an already compromised system in Richmond County."

Meyerson said Donovan's close relationship to police, and his recent announcement to run for former Rep. Michael Grimm's seat, should bar him from participating or commenting on the hearing.

Garner, 44, died in July after NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo and other officers attempted to place him under arrest for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes on a Tompkinsville street. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by a chokehold and numerous contributing medical factors.  Last month, a 23-person grand jury ruled not to indict Pantaleo in the death of Garner.

Donovan has asked for limited information about the proceedings to be released — mainly how long the jury sat, how many people testified and the makeup of the jury.

Several groups petitioned the court to release the minutes of the case.

Oral arguments are set for Thursday, Meyerson said.