Daniel Penny subway chokehold trial: Jurors hear opening statements in Jordan Neely’s death case, bodycam video shown

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree on one thing about Navy veteran Daniel Penny’s encounter with a distressed, angry and threatening man on the New York subway last year: Penny did not intend to kill him.

But a prosecutor told jurors Friday that Penny “went way too far” in his attempt to neutralize someone he saw as a threat and not as a person, while a lawyer said Penny showed “courage” and put the well-being of others above his set when he placed Jordan Neely in a chokehold that ended with Neely limp on the ground.

Both sides made opening statements on Friday in the manslaughter trial surrounding Neely’s death.

On the first day of the trial, jurors also saw body camera video that had not yet been publicly released of Penny’s first encounter with police, four and a half minutes after Neely was let go.

The case has shaken fault lines around race, homelessness, perceptions of public safety and bystander responsibility.

Penny has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and negligent homicide in Neely’s death.

Twelve Manhattanites have been selected to sit on one jury consisting of seven women and five men.

The judge estimated the trial could take four to six weeks.

The Public Prosecution Service gives an opening statement

On May 1, 2023, Daniel Penny was indifferent to Jordan Neely, ignored basic precautions and human decency and needlessly killed him aboard a subway train by placing him in a chokehold that lasted “far too long,” a prosecutor said Friday in an opening statement at Penny’s manslaughter and negligent homicide case.

“Jordan Neely breathed his last on the dirty floor of an uptown F train,” the prosecutor, Dafna Yoran, told an enthusiastic jury. Penny, she said, believed that “Mr. Neely did not deserve even the slightest bit of humanity.” At the time of his death, Neely was 30 years old, homeless and suffering from mental illness.

“Every day we pass people like Jordan Neely in our city. As New Yorkers, we train ourselves not to engage, not to make eye contact, to pretend that people like Jordan Neely are not there,” Yoran said. “On May 1, Neely demanded to be seen.”

Neely boarded a fairly busy subway at the 2nd Av stop and began threatening to hurt people, scaring many passengers, Yoran said. “His voice was loud and his words were threatening.”

She pointed to Daniel Penny as she told the jury: “This man has taken it upon himself to take down Jordan Neely. To neutralize him.”

30 seconds later, the train arrived at the next station, Broadway-Lafayette, and all passengers left the train car except for two men who helped Penny restrain Neely.

“There was no one left on the train to protect the defendant,” Yoran said. “He continued to strangle Jordan Neely even after Mr. Neely lost consciousness.”

Penny has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have said Neely was “insanely threatening,” but Yoran said Penny’s actions were unnecessarily reckless because he continued the strangulation for 5 minutes and 53 seconds after the subway ran out of passengers. ‘A grip that never changed’, Yoran called it.

“The defendant did not intend to kill him. In fact, his initial intention was commendable,” Yoran said. “But under the law, deadly physical force, such as a chokehold, is only allowed when absolutely necessary and only for as long as absolutely necessary. Here, the suspect has gone far too far.”

The prosecutor told jurors they would see a video of the chokehold. “You will see Mr. Neely’s life sucked away before your eyes,” Yoran said, appearing to upset one of the jurors, who grimaced and closed his eyes for a moment.

The defense gives an opening statement

Daniel Penny stood up to “protect your neighbor” after Jordan Neely’s threats echoed through the closed walls of a subway car he spoke to with “unhinged rage,” attorney Thomas Kenniff said during an opening statement Friday.

“This is a case about a young man who did for others what we would want someone to do for us,” Kenniff said. “It doesn’t make him a hero, but it doesn’t make him a murderer either.”

Penny was on the F train heading to 23rd Street for a swim at the gym when a “soulful, psychotic Jordan Neely ran up and announced his presence,” the attorney said. with such power that even those who do not see it hear it.”

The defense said things on the train escalated from “concern to fear” as they tried to portray Neely as much scarier than an accuser described in her opening statement.

“Neely sets his sights on a bench with female passengers,” Kenniff said. “Danny sees a mother barricading her son behind a stroller, fearing Mr. Neely.”

Penny heard Neely say, “I will kill” and the defense said there was no way for him to de-escalate or stop Neely from the evil he threatened.

“What Danny does is he takes action,” Kenniff said. Borrowing from “a little” martial arts training he had in the Marine Corps, Penny placed Neely in a chokehold with no intention of killing him but, the defense said, to hold him until police arrived.

“His behavior was consistent with someone who values ​​human life and that is why he tried so fiercely to protect it,” the lawyer said.

Kenniff insisted his client “does not want to use more force than necessary,” but Neely “aggressively resisted” while in Penny’s grasp. He said Penny thought Neely, who was unarmed, might have a gun as he waited for police.

“The evidence will show that this struggle did indeed last between five and six minutes,” but Kenniff said Penny “was not squeezing.” Instead, the defense suggested that Neely’s death may have been caused by cardiac arrest, a genetic condition or some reason other than asphyxiation. The defense said the risk of Neely’s death was not something Penny could have perceived or expected.

Body camera footage shown for the first time

The first witness, a New York City police officer, was among those who tried unsuccessfully to revive Neely. The officer, Teodoro Tejada, testified that Neely had no pulse.

The jury saw the officer’s body-worn camera footage that captured the attempts to save Neely and showed his lifeless body on the subway floor. When they searched for weapons, the officers found only a muffin in Neely’s pockets. Nothing else was found in the jacket, Tejada confirmed.

Penny is heard saying, “I kicked him out,” when the officer asked what happened.

To prosecutors, the footage — which had not been seen publicly until now — is evidence that Penny ignored Neely’s basic humanity.

Jurors intently studied the video, which shows officers frantically trying to revive Neely. At one point, a judge held her hand over her mouth and watched the camera bounce as Tejada participated in the chest compressions. Neely’s body is seen splayed out on the subway floor, sneakers, jeans and dirty, white T-shirt still on.

Under cross-examination, Kenniff asked if the officer responded to calls “from a white male causing trouble,” which Tejada confirmed he did not. The defense also used Tejada’s testimony to suggest to the jury that Penny did not act like a criminal by fleeing the scene.

“Did he seem cooperative?” the lawyer asked.

“Yes,” the officer replied.

“Didn’t it seem like he had something to hide?” Kenniff asked.

“No,” Tejada said.

Protesters gather outside the courthouse

The sounds of a street protest over Jordan Neely’s death could be heard in the 13th floor courtroom. Protesters were heard calling Penny a “subway strangler.”

The judge said he would instruct jurors to ignore “noise outside the courthouse.”

Penny, in a slate blue suit, walked confidently into the courtroom and took a seat at the defense table.

Members of Neely’s family sit among the spectators.

“I loved Jordan. And I want justice for Jordan Neely. I want it today. I want justice for everyone and I want justice for Jordan Neely,” his uncle, Christopher Neely, said before entering the court.

Before opening statements, Judge Maxwell Wiley granted a defense request to allow some statements made to police by eyewitnesses to the May 1, 2023, chokehold that were captured on body-worn cameras.

One witness, Ms. Rosario, was captured on a body-worn camera 15 minutes after the incident aboard the F train. “I see most of that statement coming in as an expression of excitement,” Wiley said. He refused to allow part of her statement in which an officer is heard asking if she thought Neely was on drugs.

A minute later, a Mr. Latimer is captured and Wiley said his statement is “well within the immediacy of the event” and can be admitted.

“This person is showing emotion and excitement as he describes what happened. It’s a story,” Wiley said.

Most of the passengers who were on board the train and witnessed the event are expected to testify at the trial

(The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report)

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