Daniel Penny’s defense team is relying on the testimony of mothers and other female witnesses aboard the New York City subway when he put Jordan Neely in a chokehold in an effort to subdue his threatening and violent presence. Meanwhile, the prosecution is insinuating Penny’s actions toward Neely were racially biased.
Penny, a former Marine, is on trial for manslaughter for the death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who witnesses said was acting erratically. Penny faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted.
Witness Lauri Sitro, who was aboard the train with her five-year-old son at the time of the incident, told the jury Friday she was “relieved” when Penny stepped in to intervene. She recalled that Neely was screaming on the train, at one point yelling, “I don’t care if I’m going to jail.”
“I did not feel safe when he was moving around erratically,” Sitro said. “I’ve taken the subway for over 30 years, and I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen a lot of unstable people, and this felt different to me. It made me put a barrier between me and my son.”
Sitro said she watched Penny hold Neely down, but it did appear that Neely was struggling to breathe.
Caedryn Schrunk, a Nike brand manager who was on the train, also shared how Neely’s antics made her fear for her life.
“I was scared that I was going to die in that moment,” she told the court.
“I think it’s interesting that they put on quite a few witnesses who said they were in fear for their lives,” Louis Gelormino, a Staten Island-based defense attorney, told Fox News Digital. “So does Penny have a duty to release this guy, knowing he’s a danger to everybody around him and himself? I don’t know.”
It’s the responsibility of the prosecution to prove to the jury that Penny’s actions of constraining Neely were reckless and failed to act in a way that a reasonable person would in that situation.
Penny isn’t accused of murder or a hate crime, but the prosecution has called witnesses who have referred to Penny by his race, repeatedly calling him the “white man.”
The defense worked to have his testimony removed from the record, but Judge Maxwell Wiley denied it. Wiley also dismissed the defense’s calls for a mistrial.
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During his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Danfa Yoran said Penny “didn’t recognize Mr. Neely’s humanity,” possibly alluding to racial bias.
“That’s the point of the defense: This isn’t a hate crime,” Gelormino said. “This isn’t a racial issue. Nobody’s declared it a racial issue.”
