The Manhattan jury deciding the fate of Daniel Penny has begun deliberating whether the 26-year-old former Marine was justified in using deadly force against Jordan Neely.
The 12 jurors, seven women and five men, began deliberations on Tuesday after hearing from more than 40 witnesses over the trial’s seven weeks.
Penny is facing manslaughter and criminal negligent homicide charges in the death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who performed as a street artist. In May 2023, Neely was placed in a chokehold by the veteran from Long Island after yelling at other passengers about being hungry in a crowded subway car in New York City. Several minutes of the altercation were caught on bystander video and was a key piece of evidence in the trial.
The case stirred a national conversation about public safety, but it has also divided the city’s residents, many of whom have had similar subway experiences and have been left questioning whether bystanders should take on the role of a vigilante in the cases of individuals with mental health struggles.
During closing arguments, Penny’s lawyers argued to the jury that “the government is scapegoating the one man who was willing to stand up at the moment he was needed,” while the district attorney’s office told jurors that Penny had been “given all of the signs he needed to stop” restraining Neely.
“He ignored them,” Dafna Yoran, an assistant district attorney, said. “He kept going until a man died. He must be held accountable for that.”
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If convicted, Penny faces up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge or up to four years on the criminally negligent homicide charge.
What was Jordan Neely doing on the subway?
Jurors were shown two eyewitness videos that showed the chokehold at the center of the case—one of which was the infamous six-minute video that put a national spotlight on the case. There was also never-before-seen footage captured by a high school student that was shown in court.
Witnesses said Neely began moving erratically, throwing his jacket on the floor and yelling about being hungry and thirsty after boarding an uptown F train. They said he proclaimed that he didn’t care if he lived or died and that he wanted to return to jail. Penny and some others heard him say he was also ready to kill.
Penny, who was already on the train when Neely boarded, approached Neely from behind and put him in a chokehold. When the train pulled into Broadway-Lafayette Street station, passengers got off the car, but videos showed that Penny did not let go of Neely.
Eric Gonzalez, who was called to the stand during trial, helped restrain Neely’s arms during the altercation. Gonzalez is heard saying that Penny wasn’t “squeezing” Neely’s neck in the video footage.
How long was Jordan Neely choked?
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office claims Penny was “criminally reckless” and went “way too far” in holding Neely down for nearly six minutes.
“What’s so tragic about this case is that even though the defendant started out trying to do the right thing, as the chokehold progressed, the defendant knew that Jordan Neely was in great distress and dying, and he needlessly continued,” Yoran told the jury.
The city medical examiner who performed Neely’s autopsy testified on behalf of the prosecution that the cause of death was “compression of neck (chokehold).” A separate medical expert who appeared for the defense found that Neely died of a combination of factors, including his sickle cell trait, schizophrenia, synthetic marijuana use and the restraint exerted by Penny.
“He was not dying due to Danny squeezing him to death,” Penny’s attorney Steven Raiser told jurors on Monday. “He was dying because he was being deprived of oxygen internally due to his medical condition.”
Several subway riders testified that they were terrified of Neely. One woman said she was “scared s***less” by his ranting on the train, while another told the court, “I’ve taken the subway for 30 years and I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen a lot of unstable people. This felt different to me.”
Newsweek reached out to Penny’s legal team for comment.