Daniel Penny won't testify in his manslaughter trial as defense rests in chokehold death case
Attorneys for Daniel Penny, who is standing trial on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 2023 chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man on the New York City subway, rested their case Friday.
Attorneys for Daniel Penny, who is standing trial on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 2023 chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man on the New York City subway, rested their case Friday.
The jury is expected to hear closing arguments and start deliberations after Thanksgiving.
If Penny is convicted of manslaughter, the more serious charge, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
Neely, 30, a Michael Jackson impersonator with a history of mental illness, had been behaving erratically but not violently, prosecutors said, on an F train he and Penny were both on when Penny threw him to the ground and put him in a chokehold for six minutes. They said Penny’s actions turned criminal when he kept choking Neely, even after he no longer posed a threat.
Bystander video of the two men that was widely shared online placed a spotlight on race relations, public safety within the city’s subway system and on how the city addresses mental health and homelessness. Penny is white. Neely was Black. Neely had a history of psychiatric and drug problems, and, on the day he was killed, he had synthetic cannabinoids in his system.
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