A history of grand jury rulings in NYPD-involved deaths

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The controversial decision in the Eric Garner case showed once again that it is rare for a grand jury to indict a police officer. Most recently, the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, also decided not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the deadly shooting of Michael Brown.

And there is actually a track record of such decisions.

The Eyewitness News Investigators took a look back at the last 20 years of grand jury decisions regarding NYPD use-of-deadly-force cases, with more than half of them resulting in no indictment. And when charges are filed, the cases nearly always end in acquittal.

In this case, an attorney who once worked for a special prosecutor investigating judicial corruption seemed certain there would be an indictment.

"I was extremely surprised by the failure of the grand jury to charge the officer," Pace University professor Bennett Gershman said. "The historical trend is not to indict, but in most of these case, you don't have a video."

But grand jury indictments of police officers in New York are rare.

There was no indictment two years ago in the police shooting of unarmed teenager Ramarley Graham inside his home, nor was there one in the 2004 when unarmed Timothy Stansbury was shot by a startled officer on a Brooklyn rooftop.

In 2000, a grand jury ruled the police shooting of Patrick Dorismond in Hells Kitchen accidental. And now, with no indictment in the Garner case, Gershman believes high-profile cases should have special prosecutors.

"We need a special prosecutor because of the relationship between local prosecutor and police," he said. "The fact that (the) prosecutor depends on police for his cases, depends on police for evidence, institutional inherent conflict."

The Garner case is similar to the 1994 chokehold death of Anthony Baez at the hands of arresting officer Francis Livoti, who was was found not guilty by a criminal court. But later, he was sentenced by a federal jury to seven years in prison for violating Baez's civil rights.

It could serve as a blueprint for Justice Department intervention in the Garner case.

"In Baez' case, you didn't have a video tape," Gershman said. "You did have a chokehold finding by medical examiner of homicide and evidence coming in that Livottee acted willfully under color of law of depriving Mr. Baez of his constitutional right to liberty and life."

The parents of Ramarley Graham are still waiting nearly two years since the U.S. Attorney announced he was investigating the police shooting of their son. Their attorney says those looking for quick action in the Garner case will have to get in line.

"You have Ramarley Graham, you have Ferguson, you have Garner," attorney Royce Russell said. "And the list is growing and growing."

Even when there is a grand jury indictment, such as in the killing of Sean Bell outside a Queens nightclub or in the shooting of unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo inside his doorway, the police officers are almost always acquitted.

"They are respectful of police officers," Fordham law professor James Cohen said. "Jurors are acutely aware that police officers have a very dangerous job, and they are acutely aware in the sense that they are saying to themselves as they sit and listen to evidence and then deliberate."

Cohen says whether it's a grand jury or criminal court jury, police are given tremendous leeway by jurors who live in the community.