NEW YORK (AP) — The public can't see the testimony a grand jury weighed before declining to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, an appeals court said Wednesday, citing longstanding reasons for grand jury confidentiality.

"The public interest in disclosure was outweighed by the dangers inherent in violating the secrecy of the grand jury proceeding," judges in the state Supreme Court Appellate Division's Second Department wrote.

Grand juries have operated for centuries behind closed doors, for reasons ranging from shielding witnesses to protecting the rights of targets who don't get charged. Transcripts are rarely disclosed — with some notable exceptions, as after an officer wasn't indicted last year in the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Wednesday's ruling echoed a lower-court decision in the case of Eric Garner, whose fatal encounter with police was recorded on video.

But city Public Advocate Letitia James, the New York Civil Liberties Union and theLegal Aid Society said they would appeal. They're seeking the transcripts, detailed descriptions of evidence and other documentation in the Garner case, which was fueled by the online video and led to widespread protests about police treatment of minorities.

"The public deserves to know what happened with that grand jury and why what we saw with our eyes did not match the failure to indict those responsible for Eric Garner's death," James said in a statement.

Garner's relatives were disappointed in the decision, as they feel releasing the information is the only way to address their doubts about the fairness of the grand jury process, said one of their lawyers, Josh Moskovitz.