{"id":33682,"date":"2024-10-21T01:03:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T06:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=33682"},"modified":"2024-10-31T22:21:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T03:21:38","slug":"daniel-penny-to-stand-trial-as-jury-selection-begins-in-nyc-subway-chokehold-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=33682","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Penny to stand trial as jury selection begins in NYC subway chokehold death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of Daniel Penny, a retired Marine charged in the deadly subway chokehold of Jordan Neely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Penny has pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who was shouting and begging for money on a Manhattan train last May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">To get a manslaughter conviction, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years, prosecutors would have to prove Penny recklessly caused Neely\u2019s death while being aware of the risk of serious harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A conviction for criminally negligent homicide would require the jury to find that Penny unjustifiably put Neely at risk of death, but failed to perceive that risk. The maximum penalty would be four years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The chokehold death, which was caught on bystander video, prompted fierce debate in 2023, with some praising Penny as a good Samaritan while others accused him of racist vigilantism. Penny is white and Neely was Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Neely lost consciousness during the struggle. Family members and their supporters have said Neely, who struggled with mental illness and homelessness, was crying out for help and was met with violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Penny suffered a legal setback earlier this month when a Manhattan judge denied his request to block jurors from hearing some evidence in the case, including video of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnewyork.com\/news\/local\/daniel-penny-court-pre-trial-hearing-in-subway-chokehold-death-jordan-neely\/5856018\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Penny\u2019s interview in the police stationhouse<\/a>\u00a0the day that Neely died, as well as different angles of body camera footage from police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The defense did not want the jury to be able to see videos, but the judge ruled that he will allowed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m not&nbsp;trying to kill the guy, I\u2019m&nbsp;trying to&nbsp;deescalate the situation,\u201d the 24-year-old Penny could be heard saying during the interrogation by police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">When asked what made him get involved, Penny responded, \u201cHe was threatening people\u2026 there were women and children on the train.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">In one of the videos, Penny was seen telling an officer \u201cI just put him out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Witness video from the day of the incident shows Penny, a&nbsp;Long Island native and&nbsp;Marine veteran, restraining Neely. Prosecutors have said the chokehold, which Penny held for several minutes, killed Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man and former Michael Jackson impersonator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Body camera footage showed Neely laying on the&nbsp;ground. Officers could be seen saying he had a faint pulse, and then shown giving him CPR about four&nbsp;minutes after they arrived.&nbsp;Witnesses were also seen talking to police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Body camera footage showed Neely laying on the&nbsp;ground. Officers could be seen saying he had a faint pulse, and then shown giving him CPR about four&nbsp;minutes after they arrived.&nbsp;Witnesses were also seen talking to police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The case went on to capture headlines nationwide. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. The trial for Penny is slated to begin later in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Also shown was the moment inside the police station when Penny described what he said happened, saying the door on the northbound F train closed, Neely&nbsp;threw his jacket and then yelled, \u201cI\u2019m going to kill everyone and&nbsp;I don\u2019t care if&nbsp;I go to jail forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">During his interrogation, Penny stood up to show the officers how he held his arm&nbsp;against&nbsp;Neely, then used his leg to drop him to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was not trying to injure him,&nbsp;I was trying to keep him from hurting anyone else. That\u2019s what we learn in the Marine Corps,\u201d he later told officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The judge found Penny\u2019s statements were voluntarily and that officers did not violate his Miranda rights, which he had waived in the interrogation room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Penny served in the Marines for four years and was discharged in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The defense said none of the interaction between Penny and cops should go to the&nbsp;jury&nbsp;because it was evidence from an illegal arrest. Penny\u2019s attorneys maintain that the officers should have read Penny his rights sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/daniel-penny-stand-trial-jury-selection-begins-nyc-subway-chokehold-de-rcna176344\">nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of Daniel Penny, a retired Marine charged in the deadly subway chokehold of Jordan Neely. Penny has pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who was shouting and begging for money on a Manhattan train [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1154],"tags":[30887],"class_list":["post-33682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-choking-death-case"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33684,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33682\/revisions\/33684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}