Daniel Penny deadly subway chokehold trial set to continue Thursday
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Thursday morning, Marine veteran Daniel Penny will be back in a Lower Manhattan courtroom as his manslaughter trial continues.
Earlier this week, the jury was shown bystander video of the moments Jordan Neely was put in a chokehold on the floor of a subway train.
Two videos shot by bystanders - one a high school student, the other a freelance journalist - offered the anonymous jury its first direct view of the chokehold at the heart of the manslaughter trial surrounding Jordan Neely's 2023 death.
Prosecutors say the student's video has never been made public before. Jurors also saw what prosecutors said was a fuller version of Mexican freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vázquez's video, part of which he'd posted on social media and was widely seen.
A witness could be heard calling out to Penny in a video, saying "he's dying" and to "let him go."
The defense argues Penny's actions were justified because Neely was an "unhinged" threat to others.
They said Neely lurched toward a woman with a stroller and said he "will kill," and Penny felt he had to take action.
Prosecutors don't claim that Penny intended to kill, nor fault him for initially deciding to try to stop Neely's menacing behavior. But they say Penny went overboard by choking the man for about six minutes, even after passengers could exit the train, after two of them stayed and helped hold Neely down, and after he stopped moving for nearly a minute.
A lawyer for Neely's family maintains that whatever he might have said, it didn't justify what Penny did.
Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
The trial is expected to last through Thanksgiving.
ALSO READ: Death mix-up leaves Staten Island family in anguish on Halloween
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
