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Opening statements begin in Daniel Penny subway killing trial in New York City

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3 weeks ago

November 1, 2024

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Opening statements begin in Daniel Penny subway killing trial in New York City

NEW YORK − Opening statements will begin Friday in the trial against Daniel Penny, a former Marine facing manslaughter charges in the death of a homeless man and beloved street performer onboard a New York City subway car last year.

Video of Jordan Neely‘s violent death gained national attention and sparked days of protest in the city after police questioned Penny and initially released him from custody.

Jury selections in the case started Oct. 21. The 12-person jury, and four alternates, was seated Wednesday.

Over the next several weeks, the jury will be tasked with deciding whether Penny, 26, acted recklessly when he held Neely, a former Michael Jackson tribute artist, in a minutes-long chokehold on the floor of a train car on May 1, 2023, resulting in his death.

During opening statements on Friday in Manhattan Criminal Court, lawyers on both sides of the case are expected to tell a detailed story about what happened that day on the subway, as well as dive into Penny’s past experiences in the Marines, said Nicole Brenecki, a Brooklyn-based trial attorney who is studying the case.

Defense lawyers are expected to argue that Penny was acting in the interest of others when he grabbed Neely from behind after the man was yelling on the subway, saying he was hungry, thirsty and ready to kill someone, court documents show. Because crimes have occurred in New York City’s vast subway system in recent years, and historically, the jury may find Penny acted appropriately when he held Neely in a chokehold, said Brenecki, an expert trial attorney who is not involved in the case.

The prosecution will argue Penny acted recklessly and was aware of the risk to Neely while pinning him down, court records show.

“In our opening, we look forward to setting force the deficiencies in the government’s case that will ultimately lead to an acquittal of all charges against Danny,” defense attorney Steve Raiser told USA TODAY on Thursday.

Prosecutors Dafna Yoran and Jillian Shartrand will argue the case against Penny for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which told USA TODAY it cannot comment on open and pending cases.

“This is a trial where a movie could be made about it, because it has all these elements that are usually considered very difficult for attorneys,” Brenecki said.

Street performer Neely had experienced homelessness

Neely’s erratic behavior and threats made while in the crowded subway car caused passengers fear for their safety, lawyers for Penny told USA TODAY. After Penny intervened to restrain Neely, who struggled with mental health problems and drug use, a medical examiner ruled his death was caused by “compression of the neck,” court records show.

“The people on that train with Danny feared for their lives,” Raiser told USA TODAY.

Neely, who was 30 years old when he died, experienced homelessness off and on throughout his life, beginning in childhood when he and his mother lived in New Jersey. When Neely was 14, his mother was brutally murdered by her boyfriend, her body stuffed in a black duffel bag and dumped off a highway in the Bronx.

“That’s the kind of trauma that can cause anyone to unravel,” Lennon Edwards, a lawyer for Neely’s family, said last year in the days following the man’s death.

Defendant hires high-profile lawyer

The case became more high-profile in recent weeks, when Penny hired Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, a jury selection consultant who helped O.J. Simpson select members of the jury for his 1995 murder trial, in which he was acquitted. In the case against Penny, the judge ruled jury members will remain anonymous to the public, the New York Times reported.

During jury selection in October, potential jurors were asked whether they were regular commuters on the subway and what their experiences in the subway system have been like, the Associated Press reported.

“The subway is a very unusual place,” said Bennett Gershman, a law professor at Pace University Law School in White Plains, New York, who is not involved in the case. “People are maybe even scared, they don’t know who anybody is, they don’t know what could happen.”

Gershman told USA TODAY he predicts the defense team will have an easier time proving Penny did not act recklessly when he restrained Neely, pinning to the floor of the subway car.

The trial is predicted to last five or more weeks, the court announced.

“I predict a hung jury or an acquittal,” Gershman said.

After studying court documents, Brenecki said the defense could argue that both Penny and Neely were victims of a social system in which people who desperately need mental health support are left to fend for themselves, often ending up in harm’s way.

“I’m not saying what he did was right − I don’t know if what he did was right,” Brenecki said. “But it’s a very good argument because if the victim has been struggling so much and no resources were provided to him and he was out there in the street dealing with a nightmarish life, this is the failure of the system.”