Death of Eric Garner: the medical examiner said that the police officer had killed him

Images of the arrest, in which Pantaleo wraps his forearm around Garner, said: "In my opinion, it's a strangulation."

Union, lawyer challenged the findings

Pantaleo's attorney previously referred to the autopsy report as "false" and Persechino's findings as "inaccurate". He blamed obesity and other health problems for the death of the man weighing 350 pounds. The New York City Police Charity Association and its president echoed these claims.

"It was a time bomb and he put those facts into question by resisting arrest," said Pantaleo's lawyer Stuart London.

London cross-exams Perechino Wednesday afternoon.

The forensic scientist's testimony comes one day after Inspector Richard Dee, commander of the New York Police Training Section, saw an excerpt of the video of the arrest and stated that the move corresponded to the definition of a strangulation.

That Pantaleo administers a strangulation – long banned by New York police – is the key to the disciplinary process. Although the video shows that Pantaeo wrapped his arm around Garner's neck while the officers took him down, London described the technique as a "seatbelt maneuver" that corresponds to police training.

Pantaleo never prevented Garner from breathing, said the defense attorney.

Garner's mother leaves

Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, attended the proceedings. She left the courtroom on Wednesday after learning that the lawyers intended to show pictures of her son's autopsy, including pictures of facial and neck bleeds.

Carr left the room or looked away earlier this week when the video of the arrest was viewed. She said she never saw her in full.

In a statement made Tuesday, she stated that it was difficult to sit near Pantaleo and accused the defense of having misrepresented the facts in order to assert the police officer's point of view .

"It's very hard for me," she said. "Watch those tapes again and again – and then watch the defense with their manipulations, they manipulate the answers, they try to manipulate the witnesses, it's so unfair … They want to prove that it was not a choking, when chief inspectors say it's a choke. "

Carr requested the dismissal of Pantaleo and disciplinary proceedings against other police officers involved in the arrest of his son.

The New York Police Department is expected to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the supervisor of Pantaleo, Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, one of the first officers to intervene on the scene.

Wednesday marked the third day of a 10-day disciplinary hearing that will determine whether Pantaleo can remain in the force.

Rosemarie Maldonado, the department's Assistant Trial Commissioner, oversees the proceedings. If Pantaleo is found guilty of using a banned stranglehold, Maldonado may recommend that he be fired. Commissioner James O'Neill would then determine if Pantaleo can retain his position.

After waiting for a US Department of Justice investigation into the arrest, which is still ongoing, the New York police filed a complaint in July for using a scarf and restricting Garner's breathing.

& # 39; I can not breathe & # 39;

On July 17, 2014, Garner allegedly sold "cigarettes" or single cigarettes – something for which he had been arrested in the past – in the Tompkinsville area of ​​Staten Island.

The images taken on a camera show Garner arguing with two police officers, denying that he sells cigarettes and repeatedly asking who he is accused of selling them. He is upset, gesturing as he accuses officers of having already been harassed.

While several policemen put him in custody, Pantaleo puts his arm around Garner's neck and the officers put him on the ground a few seconds later. Pantaleo forces Garner's head down the sidewalk, causing Garner's muffled cries, "I can not breathe, I can not breathe."