After seven days of testimony—including a painstaking frame-by-frame analysis of Eric Garner's arrest—the NYPD disciplinary trial to determine whether Officer Daniel Pantaleo should be fired is complete.
Now, it's up to Deputy Commissioner Rosemarie Maldonado to deliver her recommendations as to whether Pantaleo is guilty of department charges of reckless assault and intentional strangulation.
A Staten Island grand jury decided in 2014 not to bring criminal charges against Pantaleo.
According to the officer's attorney, Pantaleo hopes to keep his job.
"Believe it or not, he does, he is a hard working officer," Attorney Stuart London said.
Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, fumed at the news.
"Of course! He wants to kill more people. And he wants to keep his six-figure salary. Of course that upsets me!" Carr said.
In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor with the Civilian Complaint Review Board charged that Panteleo consciously disregarded training by using a chokehold to arrest Garner, causing a "fatal cascade of events" that lead to the Staten Island man's death.
The defense argued that Pantaleo did not wrestle Garner to the ground with a chokehold, but with a so-called seatbelt maneuver approved by the NYPD.
The defense said Garner's obesity, underlying heart condition and chronic asthma made him a "ticking time bomb" and that by resisting arrest he triggered his own demise.
"He said everything was justified, there was no chokehold. They showed over and over again there was a chokehold," Garner’s mother said.
Maldonado will deliver her recommendations to Police Commissioner James O’Neill, who will then decide Pantaleo's future with the department. However, Mayor de Blasio has the power to overrule the commissioner.
There is no provision to make this information available to the public; however, due to the high profile nature of this case, it is likely we will know a decision within the coming weeks.