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Lawyers for civil
rights groups and New York's public advocate office in June
called for the release of the grand jury minutes including
transcripts of testimony, exhibits and details of certain grand
jurors to better understand the decision not to charge officer
Daniel Pantaleo for Garner's death.
Garner was black and Pantaleo is white, and the case caused
widespread protests last year.
The lawyers did not establish a compelling reason for disclosure
of the minutes, the appellate division of New York State's
Supreme Court said on Wednesday.
"The public interest in preserving grand jury secrecy outweighed
the public interest in disclosure," the ruling said.
Concerns about the safety of grand jurors and the potential to
compromise an ongoing federal investigation into the incident
were also cited as reasons not to release the details.
Eric Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, was illegally selling
cigarettes in New York's Staten Island on July 17 last year when
police officers including Pantaleo tackled him to the ground and
put him in a chokehold. The city's medical examiner ruled the
death a homicide.
The arrest was caught on video, including Garner's repeated
pleas for the officers to release him, telling them he could not
breath.
New York City earlier this month agreed to pay Garner's family
$5.9 million to resolve the claim over his death.
The grand jury decision not to charge Pantaleo was met with
protests and rallies in December. It came just one week after a
grand jury in Missouri decided not to indict a white police
officer in another racially charged killing of a black man.
The decision in that case sparked a spasm of violence in
Ferguson, Missouri, with businesses burned and looted.
(Reporting by Edward McAllister; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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