From [ABC] The head of the NYPD's recruit training says video shows that a restraint technique used on Eric Garner in 2014 "meets the definition of a chokehold." Inspector Richard Dee testified Tuesday at Officer Daniel Pantaleo's internal trial, nearly five years after Garner's pleas of "I can't breathe" became a rallying cry against police brutality. Dee also says that coughing heard on the video indicates Garner's breathing was restricted by the hold. Dee says recruits are explicitly warned that chokeholds are banned, and they are instructed to disengage when they realize they're using a chokehold. Pantaleo is accused of hastening Garner's death. His lawyer says the officer used an approved technique known as a "seat-belt hold," but Dee says there is no record of Pantaleo's receiving training in that move. On Monday, protesters blocked traffic on the FDR Drive as the disciplinary trial got underway. [MORE]

The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Eric Garner testified Wednesday that a police officer's chokehold set into motion "a lethal sequence of events," but she said even a bear hug could've hastened his death given Garner's fragile health. Hemorrhaging in Garner's neck muscles was indicative of a chokehold that set off an asthma attack and led to him going into cardiac arrest following a confrontation with New York City police officers in 2014, Dr. Floriana Persechino said. 

She testified at the disciplinary hearing for Officer Daniel Pantaleo, narrating along at times with graphic autopsy photos that have never previously been seen in a public forum.

Persechino said a bystander's video of the confrontation only helped confirm her findings that the officer had wrapped his arm around Garner's neck, obstructing his breathing. The NYPD banned chokeholds in the 1990s because they can be deadly. [MORE]