A Manhattan judge said Monday she will rule this week on whether high-level city officials — including Mayor Bill de Blasio — will have to testify at a judicial inquiry over the handling of the probe of Eric Garner’s 2014 death.
Garner’s family and activists petitioned a court to hold a judicial inquiry, which is set for October, into whether city officials neglected and violated their duty to fully investigate Garner’s bust on Staten Island.
They have sought testimony from de Blasio, former Police Commissioner James O’Neill, former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and current Commissioner Dermot Shea, saying they played “a central role in the events described in the petition,” court papers from earlier this month alleged.
Plaintiff lawyer Diane Lucas argued during a Manhattan Supreme Court hearing held via video Monday that the mayor and the police commissioner “were the ultimate decision makers to determine whether there would be an investigation.”
But Stephen Kitzinger, a lawyer for the city Law Department, opposed their testimony, telling the judge, “It appears the desire to have the high-ranking officials testify is not for transparency but for spectacle and the court shouldn’t countenance that.”
Justice Erika Edwards said she would likely issue a decision by the end of the week on the matter.
Still, the judge said that “everyone who was present at the scene, I don’t see a problem with calling them as witnesses.”
Last week, the city lost a bid to block the judicial inquiry from going forward after an appeals court sided with Garner’s family.