Opening statements will begin on Friday in the trial of Daniel Penny, a New York City subway passenger who faces charges relating to the death of a homeless man who allegedly threatened other passengers last year.
Jury selection was completed this week, with the jury seated on Wednesday, ABC News reported. There are seven women and five men, four of whom are people of color.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, led by far-Left prosecutor Alvin Bragg, filed a motion accusing Penny’s defense team of using their challenges to strike at least 10 people of color from the jury pool, including a black woman with purple hair.
Judge Max Wiley said the trial is expected to last four to six weeks, ABC reported.
Penny, a 25-year-old former Marine, faces up to 19 years in prison after he put Jordan Neely, who was allegedly threatening passengers, in a chokehold. Neely died at the scene.
Penny’s attorneys have argued that their client’s chokehold was justified due to Neely’s threatening behavior, but they also question whether the chokehold caused Neely’s death. The medical examiner never provided specific evidence to support the claim that Neely died of asphyxiation from the chokehold, the New York Post reported.
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“Some people say I was trying to choke him to death, which is also not true. I was trying to restrain him,” Penny said previously, according to The Daily Wire. “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.
Neely was given Narcan – a powerful drug to combat overdoses – by first responders when they first arrived at the scene, CBS reported. Those first responders also didn’t immediately perform CPR because they found Neely had a faint pulse when they arrived. They did eventually perform CPR.
Penny said he took action against Neely because Neely was threatening passengers. Court documents from the incident indicate fellow passengers were afraid of Neely and feared for their lives, The Daily Wire reported.
“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.
Thomas Kenniff, one of Penny’s attorneys, told The Daily Wire last week that the facts are on his client’s side, saying the prosecution had a “substantial threshold” to establish Penny’s guilt.
“They’re not intent-based offensives,” Kenniff said of the charges. “In other words, the prosecution doesn’t have to prove that our client intended to kill Jordan Neely. Of course, he (Penny) did not, but they have to prove criminal recklessness and criminal negligence.”
“The prosecution is going to have to prove, not only that our client Danny Penny caused Mr. Neely’s death, but that he foresaw the risk of death and consciously disregarded it – realized, ‘I may be about to kill this guy, I’m not intending to do it, but I really don’t care if I do,’” the attorney added.
