Jordan Neely's family rallies in opposition of notorious jury consultant for deadly chokehold trial

ByDarla Miles

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Jordan Neely's family rallies against jury consultant for trial

Darla Miles has the latest as jury selection continues for the Daniel Penny trial, and Jordan Neely's family is pushing back against the hiring of a jury consultant for the trial.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- As jury selection continues in the Daniel Penny trial, Jordan Neely's family is pushing back against the hiring of a well-known jury consultant.

Neely's family rallied alongside members of Black Lives Matter New York on Tuesday against Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, who is working with Penny's defense team to help pick the jury that will decide if he is guilty of manslaughter.

Penny has pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

The family says Dimitrius' involvement is a disgraceful attempt to justify vigilantism and devalue Neely's life in a case that has been racially and politically charged from the onset.

"I'm not going to sit here and I'm going to play deaf, dumb and blind and act like I don't know the reason why they hired this person to come and represent Daniel Penny," said Christian Neely, Jordan's uncle. " All I can say is that I believe in the prosecution. I believe in New York City. I'm going to keep this thing here short and sweet. I want justice for Jordan Neely. The whole family do. The whole family do."

Dimitrius has been seen with the Penny defense team every day since jury selection started last week.

Most recently, she helped select a jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.

Rittenhouse was acquitted in 2021 in the shooting deaths of two Black Lives Matter protesters in Wisconsin.

Dimitrius is well-respected and sought-after, having worked as a jury consultant for decades. She helped pick jurors for the trials involving O.J. Simpson, Rodney King and Kobe Bryant.

Defense attorneys for Penny plan to argue he was justified in placing Neely in a deadly chokehold based on his history of mental illness and perceived aggression.

Neely was a well-known subway performer, who loved to impersonate Michael Jackson.

At 14, he began to suffer from serious mental health issues after his mother was murdered by her boyfriend, stuffed in a suitcase that was left alongside a highway in the Bronx.

Jury selection may last through the end of this week. So far, eight jurors have been chosen.

The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.