Judicial Case Summary

In the case of Robert Tolan and Marian Tolan vs. Jeffrey Wayne Cotton, I will be discussing what interest me about this case. I will also deliberating on the liability and criminal liability of this case. The Tolan vs. Cotton case interests me because the United States have so many police that are brutalizing citizens. In some cases the police officers are getting away with it. After reading, reviewing, and studying this case I have learn a lot about the criminal system and laws that men and women should obey. I will explain how the nine judges on the Supreme courts all came to a verdict against the police officer Jeffrey Cotton after he shot an innocent suspect. This people

Eric Garner was a 43 year old African American man who was also fatally injured by a law enforcement officer. A police officer in Staten Island, New York claimed Garner was selling illegal cigarettes, and then the officer placed Garner in an illegal choke hold. A bystander was able to record the event on his/her smartphone. Although the officer placed Garner in an illegal chokehold, the officer was not charged with any crimes. The officer was only put on modified duty, and his supervisor was stripped of her gun because of failure to supervise.

Four years ago Danroy “DJ” henry Jr. from Easton, Ma, was killed by a New york police officer. Since then the nation seen the death of trayvon Martin who was kiilled by a neighborhood watch volunteer and Michael brown who recently just got killed by a policeman in Ferguson, Missoury. However, the story of Eric Garner is shown to be an ongoing issue between Eric Garner and the New york police department weeks prior to the incident. In the video, Garner is seeing expressing to the policeman that he was tired of being harassed by the same policeman and he was not selling cigarettes. During the whole conversation more officers started to approach the scene and eventually as Garner was speaking the officers moved to arrest a much taller Eric Garner. After Garner resisted the arrest, officer daniel pantaleo approached garner and put him in what is an illegal chokehold and brought him to the ground. Four other officers restrained Garner in the sidewalk where he repeated “ I cant Breathe” 11 times to the police officers that was in the scene. After the incident the police department stated it was an unfortunate situation of man who had previous altercation with the police prior to july 17th 2014. After the incident medical examiners determine Garner’s cause of death was due to neck compression, and the compression of his chest and contributing health factors such as asthma and cardiovascular condition that correlates with his death. On December 3rd 2014 a grand jury decided not to

A New York City police sergeant has been charged internally and stripped of her gun and badge over the death of Eric Garner on July 2014. The NYPD sergeant was in charge when Garner was put in a chokehold. She is the first officer to face formal disciplinary action in connection with his death.

“I can’t breathe.” A white police officer holds unarmed African American, Eric Garner, in a chokehold for fifteen seconds on the streets of New York City. Ultimately, Garner utters eleven times for the officer to stop before he died of strangulation, only for selling loose cigarettes. Justice is about being fair and equal. Across America, the African American community has been suffocated of their unalienable rights, just like Eric Garner, by prejudices and racism within white police officers.

Excessive force and police brutality have become common terms for anyone keeping up with today’s current events. In 2014, the media covered numerous cases of excessive force that resulted in the deaths of several people of color (Nelson & Staff, 2014). The most widely covered cases by the media in 2014 were of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black male shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri; and Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black male in Staten Island, New York who was put into a choke by police officer Daniel Pantaleo until he lost consciousness and stopped breathing (Nelson & Staff, 2014). These cases brought attention to the seriousness of police brutality and the curiosity of how often it occurs (Brown, 2015).

Eric Garner knew he did not do anything wrong. Eric and the other officers continues their dispute until one of the officers named Daniel Pantaleo took action. Daniel Pantaleo had put Eric in a choke hold and forced him onto the ground. “It also shows a cluster of officers, including Pantaleo, kneeling on Garner’s back and pressing his face, mouth and nose to the pavement as he lay face down, hands cuffed behind him, pleading— at least 11 times—“I can’t breathe.” (In these times 1) Eric continued to struggle until his body stopped moving. The officers took another look at him and saw that he was unconscious. They called the paramedics and they arrived shortly. The paramedics had brought Eric to the hospital where they announced that Eric had

In the past several years there has been a negative outlook on how the police force are completing the tasks they are given. In some cases police are using excessive brute force to subdue their “perpetrator.” Glover stated “The targeting of people of color by law and law enforcement is an American tradition.” (P.11). With everything going around today with police officers and how they treat the people of color in our society I can see how that can be said. That statement can be applied to cases such as like the one with Eric Garner, an African American male, who was put in a chokehold to be subdued but ultimately ended with his untimely death all “on the suspicion of selling a loose cigarette”(Thompson,2015). Another case where this can

Last year, I was browsing on YouTube. A title got my attention, so I clicked on the link. I started to watch the video. It was a dark skin man being forced by police officers until death. Eric Garner a dark skin man was on his 40s who was a victim of police officers mistakes or to be realistic it was training for them. Garner has suffered after the police officer tight grip his neck in order to restrict his breathing. Garner gave in at that moment but the police officer was remaining the force on him. Melanie Eversley states, “The refrain "I can't breathe," said by the asthmatic Garner to police at least 11 times as police held him to the ground and before he died, became a rallying cry for protesters who claim a pattern of misconduct by

A forty-three year old man named Eric Garner, a father of six and a grandfather of two was shot. He was approached by NYPD officers being accused of selling contraband cigarettes. He was arrested a time or two for it before. He politely told the police to leave him alone his own words, “Please just leave me alone”. The officer did not leave him alone and tried to arrest him and Mr. Garner said, “Don’t touch me”. The officer ended up putting Garner in an illegal chokehold and Garner told him he couldn’t breathe. Eric Garner had chronic asthma, sleep apnea, and

When Garner was placed on the ground, he was put out of the chokehold and had his faced then pressed to the ground. Eric Garner said the phrase “I can’t breathe” a total of eleven times before he died, without any officer doing anything about it. Eric Garner was dead upon arrival at the hospital, and the causes of death were the compression of the neck (which is

Two high profile cases that violated each of the articles mentioned above where the cases of Eric Garner and Freddie Grey. On July 17, 2014, a 43-year-old African American man name Eric Garner died after being placed in a chokehold for 15 to 19 seconds by New York Police Department officers. He was approach by an officer who tried to arrest him for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. The medical examiner concluded that Garner was killed by " choke hold, compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police". On April 19, 2015, a 25-year-old African American name Freddie Grey died from a spinal injury after being taken into police custody. Gray was shackled and handcuff to the van but not buckle in, which ultimately lead to the spinal injury. Both officers in the

The events of the now infamous video have evolved to become a symbol of police brutality; a rallying cry for those disaffected with our justice system. Garner’s last words: “I can’t breathe”, have been adopted as the mantra of recent demonstrations. More importantly, unlike the shooting death of Michael Brown, whose case was enshrouded in a fog of conflicting witnesses and forensic reports, Garner’s death serves as an irrefutable, visceral testament to the violent excesses of law enforcement. Although the Grand Jury investigating Pantaleo’s conduct

Black Lives Matter began as a social media hashtag that later transformed into a social movement after George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year old black boy. The social media hashtag did not pick up until November 25, 2014 (Demby); the day police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted after shooting and killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old black boy. Quickly after the decision was heard, “#blacklivesmatter” came to life via thousands of protestors. Unfortunately, this was not the last injustice to cause a Black Lives Matter protest. Shortly after, about a week and a half later, another grand jury decides to not indict another officer for the murder of Eric Garner. Eric Garner was put in a chokehold that eventually led to his death in NYC, even though the NYPD prohibits use of chokeholds. When the decision was made to not indict the officer, thousands of protestors took to the streets of NYC, Dallas, and several other major cities. The murders of Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and several others sparked similar, if not larger, protest across the country.

On July 17th of last year Eric Garner was stopped by the police to be confronted about selling untaxed loose cigarettes illegally. Eric Garner verbally resisted arrest by arguing with the cops about the terms of his arrest. After bickering for a few minutes the cops proceed to perform a chokehold like maneuver, which acted as a catalyst toward the imminent death that would come of Garner. Prior to Garner’s encounter with Daniel Pantaleo his aggressor and rest of the NYPD cops, he already had several health issues such as diabetes and asthma. Consequently, this sparked a powder key of mammoth proportions, with outbreaks of destructive riots and protests. Furthermore, two notable contrasting interpretations of this controversial case are those of CNN’s news article titled “Key figures in Eric Garner case speak out one year later” written on July 17, 2015 by David Shortell which leans more toward the side of Garner, as they uncovered information on how unjust and insufficient the police and EMT protocol followed, on the other hand there is the article by Breitbart that is greatly in favor of police officer Pantaleo titled “The Actual Facts of The Eric Garner Case” Written on December 3rd, 2015 by Ben Shapiro.