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A Staten Island judge said he’ll hear arguments later this month over whether to unseal grand jury records in connection with the arrest and death of Eric Garner.
Veteran state Supreme Court Justice William E. Garnett ordered lawyers from The Post, the office of Public Advocate Letitia James, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society – which have all petitioned to have the grand jury transcripts made public — to be ready for oral arguments on Jan. 29.
“I want transparency,” said Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, wearing a T-shirt with the words, “I can’t breathe” – her son’s last words. “I want to understand how they came back with no true bill for my son.”
Grand jury records are usually secret but there’s a movement to have all testimony and filings in the Garner case opened to the public.
The secret panel last month declined to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, who applied a choke hold on Garner while trying to arrest him for selling untaxed, loose cigarettes.
Garner, who is black, died from injuries suffered during the arrest. Pantaleo is white.
The non-indictment set off days of protests across New York. It also prompted Mayor de Blasio to say he worries about his teenage son Dante, who is half black, and how he’d be treated by police.
About three dozen protesters, advocating for the transcript release, were outside the Staten Island courthouse on Monday. One held a sign: “What are they hiding?”
“We can’t be doing all this killing,” said protester Ercel Lee, a 37-year-old cousin of Garner’s from North Carolina.
The protesters said they plan to be outside court every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon until the judge rules.



