article_snippet: New York State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett ruled on Thursday that the grand jury record would remain under seal.
article_snippet: New York State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett rejected arguments by the New York Civil Liberties Union and others that the public had a right to know why jurors refused to indict a New York City police officer in spite of the video.
article_snippet: New York State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett wrote that the law required the plaintiffs to establish a 'compelling and particularized need' to release the grand jury minutes.
article_snippet: Testimony from the grand jury than did not indict the police officer involved in the death of Garner (right, with family) will remain sealed after a decision from New York State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett .
article_snippet: At a hearing in February, New York State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett had asked over and over how the Garner grand jury minutes would be used. '
article_snippet: The only answer which the court heard was the possibility of effecting legislative change,' New York State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett wrote.
article_snippet: However, New York State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett said that hopes of legal efforts to combat police brutality or 'journalistic curiousity' were not strong enough to unseal the documents. '
article_snippet: Justice New York State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett wrote that none of the plaintiffs seeking to unveil the grand jury testimony showed a 'compelling and particularized need' for the information .
article_snippet: The effort to make the Garner grand jury record public had been considered a longshot.
article_snippet: By preserving secrecy in the Garner case, the courthas reinforced the distrust many New Yorkers already feel toward the performance of the criminal justice system in the Garner case,' said NYCLU legal director Arthur Eisenberg.
article_snippet: The NYCLU and others had asked the court to order Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan to release the grand jury transcript, including the testimony of Pantaleo, and dozens of witnesses, detailed descriptions of evidence and other documentation.
article_snippet: A lawyer for Mr Garner family said that the secrecy of grand juries was an 'anachronism.'
article_snippet: A similar step was voluntarily taken by the prosecutor in Ferguson, Missouri, when a grand jury there refused to indict an officer in the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
article_snippet: Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan argued that the disclosure would damage the credibility of prosecutors seeking to assure both grand jurors and witnesses that details of both grand jurors and witnesses participation would be kept from public view.
article_snippet: If every newsworthy case were deemed compelling and, thus justified disclosure, the veil of grand jury secrecy would be lifted and every citizen's right to have fellow citizens, sitting on a grand jury, check the power of the police and the prosecutor without pressure from outside influences — real or perceived — would be imperiled,' the justice said.
article_snippet: The decision by the Staten Island grand jurors, Justice Garnett added, 'was theirs alone, after having heard all of the evidence, having been instructed on law and having deliberated. '
article_snippet: theirs should not be impeached by the unbridled speculation that the integrity of this grand jury was impaired in any way.'
article_snippet: Secret grand juries are an anachronism,' Justice Garnett added, according to the New York Times. '
article_snippet: If this was a normal grand jury process, Secret grand juries would have had an indictment in five minutes,' Justice Garnett said.
highlights_snippet: Prosecutor in Ferguson police shooting unveiled testimony voluntarily .
  