New York Subway Opening Statements Begin – NBC New York

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree on one thing Navy veteran Daniel Penny’s encounter last year with a distressed, angry and threatening man on a New York subway train: Penny had no intention of killing him.

But that’s what a prosecutor told jurors on Friday 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 before his own when he Jordan Neely in a chokehold that ended with Neely limp on the ground.

Both sides gave opening statements on Friday in the trial for manslaughter around Neely’s death. The case has shaken fault lines around race, homelessness, perceptions of public safety and bystander responsibility.

Penny’s critics see him as a white vigilante killer of a black man who behaved erratically and made horrible statements, but was not armed and had not attacked or even touched anyone on the subway. Supporters credit Penny, 25, with taking action to protect frightened subway passengers — action he said was intended to defuse, not kill.

Prosecutor Dafna Yoran told the anonymous jury that the trial is not a “referendum on our society’s inability to address mental illness and homelessness in the metro,” or on the police response. Nor is the case on whether Penny had the right to intervene or his decision to attempt a chokehold, she said.

She previously said: “He used far too much violence for far too long. He went way too far.”

She said he showed “indifference” toward Neely and “failed to recognize his humanity.”

That is not the case, says lawyer Thomas Kenniff. He told jurors that Penny applied only as much force as necessary to restrain a “soulful, psychotic” man who charged at a woman with a small child and declared, “I will kill.”

“In that moment, Danny could look away and pray, or he could muster the courage to put the safety of his neighbors above his own, to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves,” and he did the latter, Kenniff said.

“It doesn’t make him a hero. But that doesn’t make him a murderer.”

Jurors, who were previously questioned about their experiences on the subway, later saw police CCTV footage of officers performing life-saving techniques on Neely after Penny calmly explained that he had ‘kicked him out’ and described Neely as a ‘crackhead’ who ‘went crazy’. They also heard Friday from the first officer who responded to Neely’s death.

The case has been absorbed into America’s fractious politics, with Republican officials standing up for Penny and Democratic officials attending Neely’s funeral. Both supporters and critics of Penny have held demonstrations; Penny arrived at the courthouse Friday to critical chants from a small group of protesters.

Once in the courtroom, Penny sat upright in his chair at the defense table, looking mostly straight ahead. A member of Neely’s family sitting in the audience at times sniffled with tears.

“We know who the victim is in this case, and we know who the bad guy is,” family attorney Donte Mills said outside court.

Neely’s life was blighted by mental illness and drug abuse after his mother was murdered and stuffed into a suitcase when he was a teenager, his family says. At 30, he sometimes entertained subway passengers as a Michael Jackson impersonator, but he also had a criminal record, including assaulting a woman at a subway station.

Penny, an architecture student who served in the Marines for four years, says he was going from a college class to a gym when he ran into Neely on the subway on May 1, 2023.

Neely begged for money, shouted that she was ready to die or go to jail, and made sudden movements, according to witnesses. Yoran said Neely talked about hurting people.

Penny put his arm around the man’s neck, took him to the ground and held Neely there, with Penny’s legs around him.

While bystanders captured part of the encounter on video, Penny held Neely for about six minutes, Yoran said. The watch continued as the train stopped at a station, all but two fellow passengers got off, those two helped restrain Neely, and another warned Penny to let Neely go or he would die, according to Yoran’s statement and court papers.

Kenniff said Penny begged fellow passengers to call the police and continued to hold Neely down as the man occasionally waved or tried to get up.

“I just locked him out,” Penny told police. He later added that he simply wanted to “de-escalate” the tense situation and was not trying to injure Neely, but rather “to avoid hurting anyone else.”

Penny eventually released Neely almost a minute after his body went limp, prosecutors said. He waited for the police, but Yoran noticed that even though Penny was trained in first aid, he did not check Neely’s breathing or heart rate or attempt to revive him.

Officers arrived about seven minutes after the 911 calls came in. Their descriptions ranged from intimidation and a man with a gun.

For about four minutes, officers spoke with Penny, searched Neely – finding nothing but a muffin in his pockets – and determined he had a weak pulse but was not breathing. They then performed chest compressions and administered an anti-overdose medication, but did not attempt mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When asked why, Sgt. Carl Johnson testified Friday that Neely was “very dirty,” and the sergeant feared the man might have an illness or wake up and vomit.

“The motto is ‘serve and protect’, right?” Kenniff said. He asked whether Johnson would have ordered rescue breaths if the officers had been wearing protective masks.

“No,” Johnson responded, adding, “There is a certain line where you have to protect your officers.”

Neely’s heartbeat soon disappeared.

City medical examiners determined Neely died of neck compression. Penny’s lawyers question that finding. They tried unsuccessfully to prevent jurors from hearing any evidence, including Neely’s lack of a weapon and Penny’s statement to detectives.

Joseph Frederick and David R. Martin of The Associated Press contributed to this report.