A Manhattan Supreme Court judge has approved a judicial inquiry into whether city officials properly investigated the death of Eric Garner at the hands of police in 2014, clearing the way for Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city’s former police chief to be deposed.

The ruling, from Justice Joan A. Madden, came in response to a lawsuit filed by Garner’s family, who have alleged an ongoing cover-up of the incident on Staten Island and the “related failure to discipline officers” involved.