Marine veteran Daniel Penny is on trial for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely, who died after Penny placed him in a chokehold on a New York City subway. The prosecution’s star witness, Dr. Cynthia Harris, mentioned the word “homicide” during her testimony, prompting Penny’s defense team to request a mistrial. The judge ordered the comment to be stricken, but allowed other testimony leading up to it to remain part of the case. Penny’s defense also previously requested a mistrial, claiming that prosecutors were unfairly painting Neely’s death as a racial issue, but this request was also denied.
During Dr. Harris’ testimony, she stated that Neely had synthetic drugs in his system, similar to cocaine, but she declared his cause of death as asphyxiation and not cardiac arrest. She mentioned that Neely had bruises, scrapes, and petechiae in his eyes, as well as organ damage from his sickle cell trait. Harris’ testimony began after Marine martial arts instructor Joseph Caballer explained to the jury the purpose of a chokehold, which is to render the threat unconscious. The defense is expected to call their own witnesses once Harris’ testimony concludes, and the trial is anticipated to finish before Thanksgiving.
Penny’s defense team has raised objections throughout the trial, including the prosecution’s portrayal of Penny as a “White vigilante” and a witness calling him a “murderer” despite not being accused of murder. The defense also argued that Penny was not getting a fair trial. The judge denied these requests for a mistrial but acknowledged the defense’s concerns. Additional evidence, such as a police report describing Neely as a screaming man, is being considered for inclusion in the trial. Despite these legal issues, the trial is progressing, and Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter.
The circumstances surrounding Neely’s death involved him barging onto a subway car, making erratic threats, and being restrained by Penny in a chokehold. While Penny is not accused of intentionally killing Neely, the prosecution has charged him with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Neely was found unresponsive when the police arrived at the scene, leading to confusion surrounding his cause of death. The toxicology report revealed synthetic drugs in his system, but Harris maintained that asphyxiation was the primary cause of death, despite having a pulse when Penny released him from the chokehold.
The trial of Daniel Penny for the death of Jordan Neely has raised legal questions and objections from the defense team regarding the fairness of the proceedings. The testimony from Dr. Cynthia Harris indicated that Neely died from asphyxiation, despite having synthetic drugs in his system. The defense has emphasized that Penny did not intend to kill Neely, but rather to restrain him during the incident on the subway. With the trial expected to conclude before Thanksgiving, the fate of Penny and the charges against him will soon be decided by the jury.
