A Staten Island judge will hold a hearing on Jan. 5 into petitions seeking transcripts, instructions and evidence from the grand jury that investigated the death of Eric Garner but decided not to indict the police officer involved in his chokehold death in July.

The medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide. State charges could have ranged from murder to reckless endangerment.

Family lawyer Jonathan Moore said he was "actually astonished based on the evidence of the videotape, and the medical examiner, that this grand jury ... wouldn't indict for anything."

Supreme Court Justice William E. Garnett will preside in hearing petition requests starting at 10 a.m. at 18 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island.

Petitions have been filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Legal Aid Society and New York Public Advocate Letitia James.

NYC Public Advocate Letitia James initially called for the grand jury records in the Garner case to be unsealed on Dec. 3 when news about the jury's decision was made.

"This has to stop," James said at the time. "Every New Yorker has seen the video."

A previous judge initially sealed the application for release of the transcript over the NYCLU's and James' objections. The NYCLU took steps to challenge the constitutionality of the sealing order.  A Brooklyn appeals court overturned the seal request.

A hearing was original scheduled for Dec. 19. The then presiding Justice Stephen Rooney stepped aside from the case, according to Bloomberg News, citing his wife's position as chairman of Richmond University Medical Center which employed the medics that responded to the Garner arrest.

The NYCLU's application specifically requests that any personally identifiable information about the jurors, witnesses and employees of the office of the State Island District Attorney be redacted.

"The failure to indict the officer responsible for the death of Eric Garner after the incident was clearly recorded on video has severely damaged the ability for much of the public to trust the criminal justice system and has left many wondering if black lives even matter," said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman.

She added, "The outcome of Grand Jury proceedings has left many questions as to whether secret grand jury proceedings are instruments of injustice and whether the secret grand jury system should be abolished. The Garner Grand Jury is central to that public discussion. And it is important to that conversation for the public to know how and why the Grand Jury reached the conclusions that it did."

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has written to Gov. Andrew Cuomo requesting an order to appoint a special prosecutor to decide matters like the Garner case in the future.

The U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced at the time of the jury decision that the Justice Department was opening a federal civil rights inquiry which would be "independent, thorough and fair."