New York, Dec 4 (IANS/EFE): A grand jury in New York's Staten Island borough declined to indict a white police officer caught on videotape applying a chokehold while trying to detain a black man who ultimately died of asphyxiation, the lawyer for the victim's family has said.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo could have been charged with any of several offences from reckless endangerment up to and including murder.

Eric Garner, 43, who was asthmatic, died July 17 after Pantaleo placed an arm against his neck while trying to arrest him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.

New York's medical examiner classified the death as a homicide and said the chokehold was a factor.

Pantaleo's defenders say the move he used was not a chokehold, but a technique taught by the police department.

The incident, filmed by a passer-by, sparked protests and anger in the city, which has witnessed a succession of cases where people -- usually minorities -- suffered death or injury at the hands of the New York Police Department.

"I am actually astonished," Garner family attorney Jonathan Moore told NY1 television. "Based on the evidence of the video tape, and the medical examiner, that this grand jury at this time wouldn't indict for anything, is really just astonishing."

The news from Staten Island Wednesday comes just nine days after a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

The decision in the Brown case sparked violent disturbances in Ferguson.

Previous protests in New York over Garner's death have been peaceful.