silive composite garner

District Attonnet Daniel Donovan, NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, and Eric Garner in his last moments, while EMS responds to the incident.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After a "careful" review of the evidence, Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan announced Tuesday that he will convene a special grand jury to determine whether to levy charges in the chokehold death of Eric Garner.

"I have determined that it is appropriate to present evidence regarding the circumstances of [Eric Garner's] death to a Richmond County Grand Jury," a statement released by Donovan's office reads. "Yesterday, the Court granted my application for the impaneling of an additional Grand Jury and I intend to utilize that Grand Jury sometime next month to begin presenting evidence on this matter."

The special grand jury will hear all of the evidence gathered by prosecutors and then consider whether to hand down an indictment for Daniel Pantaleo or any of the other officers involved in the Garner case. Unlike a trial jury, a grand jury is not required to be in unanimous agreement to indict a suspect and proceedings are not open to the public.

Suspects who have not yet been arrested are permitted to testify before the grand jury, but because the proceedings are kept secret, they may not be aware of the proceedings unless notified by prosecutors.

Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, died after police attempted to arrest him on suspicion of selling loose cigarettes outside of a Bay Street storefront in Tompkinsville on July 17.

Police originally said he died from cardiac arrest, but cell phone video taken by a bystander showed an officer, identified as Daniel Pantaleo, place Garner in a chokehold and drag the heavyset man to the ground with the help of other officers, as he gasped, "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"

For weeks since Garner's death in police custody, protestors, led by Rev. Al Sharpton, have called on the district attorney to charge Pantaleo in his death and have repeatedly rallied outside his office.

But Donovan has remained mum on his intentions, stating through his spokesman that prosecutors were investigating the death and awaiting a full autopsy report and death certificate from the medical examiner.

"When we reach a conclusion, we will announce it," Donovan said. "We're not working on anyone else's timetable."

Donovan said he urged Garner's family to exercise restraint during an hour-long meeting in his office on July 28.

"I asked for their patience," Donovan said. "I said it's going to take some time."

Following the medical examiner's Aug. 1 ruling that the Port Richmond man's death was a homicide by chokehold, legal experts speculated that Donovan would put the case to a grand jury before making any arrests.

While Pantaleo or any other suspect could have been arrested prior to the impaneling of a grand jury, lawyers told the Advance they doubted an arrest would occur prior to a grand jury presentation.

That's because a felony arrest case must be put to the panel within six days if the defendant doesn't make bail, which would put an enormous amount of pressure on the DA to lay out the evidence under significant time constraints.

Waiting to make an arrest until after the grand jury is presented with the evidence buys prosecutors more time.

"They'll try to make as complete a presentation as possible," local criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor Joseph Sorrentino told the Advance earlier this month.

Donovan devoted more resources to the Garner investigation than he had to any other case in his decade-long tenure in office.

Eight assistant district attorneys and around 10 detective investigators worked the case, supervised by Chief Assistant DA Daniel Master Jr. and Executive Assistant DA Timothy Koller, the district attorney said.

Donovan declined further comment following Tuesday's announcement, saying only that he was committed to conducting a "fair, thorough and responsible" investigation into Garner's death:

"I will make no comment now, or during the period of time that the Grand Jury is convened, regarding the days that the Grand Jury will be sitting; who may be called as a witness before the Grand Jury; what any witness has or will testify about before the Grand Jury; when the Grand Jury will conclude its investigation; what criminal charges will be considered by the Grand Jury, or against whom the Grand Jury might consider any such criminal charges."