I think there was probable cause for some form of manslaughter. The office has him in his custody. He employed a prohibited choke hold. The finding in his death had already been found to not from natural causes by the coroner. The Grand Jury had probable cause.
A jury could have found that there was not enough proof for manslaughter based upon the wording of the law but it was not proper action by the officer and a man died.
It wasn’t a chokehold, which incapacitates and can kill by crushing the air passage. The cop grabbed Garner and hauled him back and then released him.
“Hold” means that somebody is being held, but as soon as they pulled Garner back, they let go of him.
The initial reports that I read said that Garner also had cocaine in his system. Does anybody know if this is accurate? I think the grand jury would have been given the toxicology report.