On day four of witness testimony in the trial of Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran who has pleaded not guilty in connection with the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, 30, on board a subway train last year, the court played more police-worn body camera footage.
Prosecutors argue Penny’s intentions were good, but that he used too much force in placing Neely in a chokehold for nearly six minutes, while the defense says Penny was trying to protect other riders on the train.
The Whole Train Was Freaking Out
On cross-examination of the prosecution’s witnesses, the defense played police-worn body camera video of witness statements to responding officers about what happened when Neely entered an F train on May 1, 2023.
“The whole train was freaked out. He was either going to pull a gun, a knife, or something else,” one woman said. “He said, ‘I’m willing to die. I’m willing to die,'” another woman says.
In a different video, the same woman expresses, “He terrified everyone.” The witness, who has been riding the subway for over 50 years and has experienced threats before, told the jury that this was the first time she had ever been truly scared. She described Neely as resisting when Penny put Neely in a chokehold to restrain him.
“Not a hard chokehold, just enough to secure him, and the guy fought,” she says in the bodycam video. She testified she left to go to the conductor and then also pressed an intercom button in the station to see when police might arrive because it had been a while. She also stated that she approached Penny to express her gratitude after the incident.
This Felt Different To Me
Another woman on the train with her 5-year-old son told the jury, “I’ve taken the subway for over 30 years, and I’ve seen a lot of unstable people, and this felt different to me.” She demonstrated for the jury how she saw Neely lunging at people. The witness expressed her relief when Penny helped Neely to the ground, stating, “I was scared for my son.”
She was shocked to read in the paper that Neely had died because, as she put it, “his breathing didn’t seem to be in distress.” “We got to see what the riders on that subway train that were trapped in that underground subway car with Jordan Neely were experiencing,” defense attorney Thomas Kenniff said.
During opening statements, the prosecution said they plan to call the medical examiner, as well as Penny’s martial arts instructor in the Marines, to the stand. “I just believe in the prosecution. I believe in the justice for Jordan Neely,” said Neely’s uncle, Christopher Neely.
Subway Rider Thanked Daniel Penny For Saving Riders From Jordan Neely—Possibly The Most Important Gesture Of His Life
A simple gesture, a short phrase. That Alethea Gittings said it to Daniel Penny on May 1, 2023, meant a helluva lot. From my perspective on day four of Penny’s turbulent manslaughter trial, it was perhaps the most important thank you of the 26-year-old’s life.
Gittings was on that Uptown F train back when Neely, a homeless man with mental health and substance abuse issues, boarded her car and launched into a rage, spitting threats. She saw the events that unfolded, landing Penny in a courtroom fighting for his freedom.
And in that harrowing chaos of that terrible day, she felt gratitude toward the Marine veteran—and even stuck around to tell him. “I came back to thank Mr. Penny,” she testified, speaking in a strong but warm manner.
Straphangers Told Jurors Daniel Penny Acted To Protect Them
Manhattan subway riders who witnessed Penny put Neely in a chokehold on the F train last year—a move prosecutors charge killed the homeless subway performer—praised the Long Island Marine veteran’s intervention and testified Friday that they felt relieved after he stepped in.
“I’ve taken the subway for 30 years, and I’ve seen a lot; but this felt different to me,” said Lori Sitro, who tried to hide her 5-year-old son behind a stroller when she said she heard Neely screaming and lunging at her fellow passengers.
Sitro said Neely came within a foot of some passengers as he ranted about being hungry. “He was shouting in people’s faces, ‘I don’t have water; I don’t have food; I don’t have a home.'” I want to hurt people; I want to go to Rikers,'” Sitro, a Brooklyn advertising agency research director, said.
‘He was lunging at people in different directions. It was very erratic and unpredictable.” Prosecutors agree that Penny initially intended his actions to help his fellow commuters, but they argue he acted recklessly when he used a chokehold that the Marines forbade for more than six minutes.
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