Jury Selection Underway In Trial Of Daniel Penny Over Controversial NYC Subway Chokehold

Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of Daniel Penny, who put a homeless man threatening New York City subway passengers in a fatal chokehold last year.

Penny, a 25-year-old Marine Corps veteran, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, who was allegedly threatening passengers on the subway in May 2023. Defense attorney and former prosecutor Jason Goldman told the New York Post that the defense would likely put jurors in Penny’s shoes at the time of Neely’s death.

“Penny’s defense team will put jurors in that train car and challenge them with what the safest response would be in the face of Neely’s chaos,” Goldman told the outlet.

Court documents from the incident indicate fellow passengers were afraid of Neely and feared for their lives, The Daily Wire reported.

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“I want to hurt people, I want to go to Rikers. I want to go to prison,” one woman said Neely was yelling that day on the subway. That woman, who was with her son, said she hid behind his stroller as Neely allegedly charged at other passengers.

The court documents also say that a high school student prayed after Neely yelled, “Someone is going to die today.” Another woman described Neely’s actions that day as “sickening” and “satanic.” She also said she believed she “was going to die” when Neely approached her. She called the experience “absolutely traumatizing.” Another passenger, who has used the subway for more than 30 years, said nothing had “put fear into me” like Neely had.

Penny himself said he was “scared” of Neely.

“But I looked around, I saw women and children. He was yelling in their faces, saying these threats. I couldn’t just sit still,” he said, The Daily Wire previously reported.

Penny’s attorneys, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser, have argued that, because of Neely’s threatening behavior, Penny’s chokehold was justified. The defense is also expected to question whether Penny’s chokehold caused Neely’s death, as the medical examiner never provided specific evidence to support the claim that Neely died of asphyxiation from the chokehold, the Post reported.

Penny has disputed claims that he held Neely in a chokehold for 15 minutes.

“Some people say I was trying to choke him to death, which is also not true. I was trying to restrain him,” Penny said. “You can see in the video there’s a clear rise and fall of his chest, indicating that he’s breathing. I’m trying to restrain him from being able to carry out the threats.”

The defense will also try to admit evidence of Neely’s abuse of the drug K2, which was found in his system when he died, though the medical examiner’s report didn’t say how much of the drug was found. Penny’s defense has attempted to dismiss the case based on this information but has been denied.

Prosecutors from left-wing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office have argued that Penny, a veteran, should have known that his chokehold could result in Neely’s death. The DA’s office has cited testimony from a Marine trainer, who told a grand jury that Marines are taught that the chokehold could result in death, even though it’s meant to be non-lethal.

Penny has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.