Jury seated in subway chokehold trial against Daniel Penny; opening statements to begin Friday
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A jury has been seated to hear the subway chokehold case against Daniel Penny with opening statements scheduled for Friday.
The jury is comprised of seven women and five men, including four people of color. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office filed a motion accusing the defense of eliminating certain potential jurors based on race. At the time, the defense used their challenges to strike at least 10 people of color.
Prosecutors cited a Black woman with purple hair that defense attorneys struck after pointing out the hair color as among the reasons they wanted her off the jury.
Jury selection began more than a week ago in the manslaughter trial of Penny, a Marine veteran who put a man acting erratically in a New York City subway car into a fatal chokehold.
Penny pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Witnesses say the man, Jordan Neely, had been shouting and demanding money when Penny approached him on May 1, 2023.
That's when Penny moved to restrain him, pinned the man to the floor of an NYC train with the help of two other passengers, and placed him in a chokehold until his body went limp.
RELATED | Jordan Neely's family rallies against jury consultant for trial
The medical examiner's office ruled his death a homicide. Penny's lawyers argue that the Long Island native didn't intend to kill Neely but rather sought to hold him down long enough for police to arrive.
The case has fueled political narratives and perceptions about urban crime and captivated a city where the subway is indispensable.
Neely was experiencing homelessness and was known to perform as a Michael Jackson impersonator. Penny's defense has argued Neely was "insanely threatening" to passengers aboard the F train in Manhattan and Penny "took action to protect the lives of others."
Prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office are expected to concede that Neely may have seemed scary to some subway riders but will argue Penny continued the chokehold long past the point where Neely stopped moving and posed any threat.
To convict, prosecutors must prove Penny's use of lethal force was unjustifiable and that Penny acted recklessly and consciously disregarded the substantial risk of putting Neely in the chokehold for so long. Prosecutors do not have to prove Penny intended to kill Neely, which defense attorneys have said he did not.
"We are confident that a jury, aware of Danny's actions in putting aside his own safety to protect the lives of his fellow riders, will deliver a just verdict," Penny's lawyers, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, have said.
The case is expected to feature testimony of passengers who were aboard the subway at the time and video of the chokehold, which lasted six minutes.
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