Garner cop dept. trial hearing set

The Staten Island cop accused of using a banned chokehold on Eric Garner will soon have his day in court.

More than four years after his involvement in one of the most sensational incidents in city history, Officer Daniel Pantaleo is set to appear at a departmental trial to fight the charge that he used a chokehold on Garner, whose death after repeatedly gasping “I can’t breathe” was captured on video and sparked worldwide outrage.

Pantaleo will be in the NYPD trial room at 1 Police Plaza on Dec. 6 — but his appearance will likely be short, with his lawyer and a prosecutor discussing evidentiary issues and other matters by a department trials commissioner, sources said.

Pantaleo’s actual trial, which could cost him his job, will almost certainly not start until early next year.

His lawyer, Stu London, said Pantaleo has longed to have his say.

“My client’s looking forward to eventually being vindicated on the merits in this case,” London said, “and this is the first step toward that.”

Pantaleo, who remains on desk duty, still has the possibility of a federal indictment hanging over him.

The Department of Justice gave the NYPD the OK to proceed with his administrative trial in July.

Another cop, Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, will also stand trial at 1 Police Plaza. But she showed up at the scene — Bay St. on Staten Island — after Pantaleo had already put his arms around Garner and pulled him to the ground, and is charged with failure to supervise.

Pantaleo, in effect, is known in activist circles as the cop who killed Garner, who 11 times yelled “I can’t breathe” while he was on the ground.

A Staten Island grand jury, however, did not indict Pantaleo, and the bar for a federal indictment is high — prosecutors would have to prove the officer willingly set out to violate Garner’s civil rights.

Already in poor health, Garner, 43, died from the chokehold and chest compression, the medical examiner later ruled.