NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors accused Danielle Penny of Jordan Neely's “Improvement” in closing arguments Monday, weeks after she was accused of making inappropriate racial overtones in a case unrelated to the hate crime charges. He once again criticized them for failing to recognize their humanity.
“He did not realize that Jordan Neely was a human being,” Manhattan prosecutor Dafna Yolan told the jury. “He saw him as someone who needed to be removed.”
She claimed that Penny was “reckless with Neely's life because he didn't seem to recognize her humanity.” She played a video of Mr. Penny's police interrogation, in which he calls Mr. Neely a “crackhead” and tells detectives, “You know these people, they shove people in front of trains and stuff.” There is,” he said.
“We've all talked disparagingly about people like Jordan Neely,” she said. “Maybe we've lumped it all together like this too, but the context here is very telling. When the defendant talks about Mr. Neely like this, he's saying he's I know it's very likely that I killed Mr. Neely. Can you imagine any sane person saying this about someone they just killed? ”
Daniel Penny appears for closing argument in subway chokehold trial
Prosecutor Dafna Göran leaves the trial of Daniel Penny at the Supreme Criminal Court building in Manhattan, New York City, December 2, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
Penny was not informed of Neely's death when she voluntarily agreed to speak with NYPD detectives.
Yoran used similar language in her opening statement early in the trial, and her team also allowed witnesses to describe Penny as a “white man” and a “murderer,” which Penny's defense team objected to in court. requested that a mistrial be declared in this case. language.
Penny's defense claims that Neely didn't see humanity in the race he was unfairly called upon, and that the combination of other languages would make it impossible for him to get a fair trial. The judge denied an earlier motion to declare a mistrial.
In the defense's closing argument on Monday, which preceded Yolan's remarks, Penny's attorney, Stephen Riser, said New York City was in the midst of a subway train in which 30-year-old Neely ran away from a passenger. , the 26-year-old architecture student claimed to have intervened. A 1-year-old homeless man, who is addicted to drugs and suffers from schizophrenia, broke in and began threatening the passengers.
Daniel Penny Defense subpoenas forensic pathologist as witness: 'Strangulation was not the cause of death'
Daniel Penny arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Courts building on November 25, 2024 in New York City. (Rashid Umar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
“The government wasn't there. The police weren't there. Danny was there,” Riser told jurors. “And when he needed help, no one was there. Does the government have the nerve to blame Danny just because the police weren't there? Danny held out when the police weren't there Are you blaming me?”
He said it took seven minutes for police to respond to the 911 call and 20 minutes for medical personnel to arrive. Mr Neely was “on a collision course with himself” and a “broken system” had failed everyone involved, his lawyer said.
Penny is on trial for manslaughter and manslaughter.
Neely has a lengthy arrest record, severe mental illness, documented substance abuse issues, and was aggressive when he boarded the F train on May 1, 2023, and began shouting death threats. Testimony from the past three trials revealed that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. A few weeks.
Reiser noted that Penny used a “less aggressive” restraint than what he was taught in the Marine Corps, and claimed he intended to hold Neely down but did not intend to hurt him.
“What Danny did was not textbook,” he said. “He applied what he learned as a Marine in a less aggressive way…Danny's kinder side led him to apply less than textbook Marine hemostasis without driving Neely unconscious. Because I told you to do it.”
Daniel Penny Defense subpoenas forensic pathologist as witness: 'Strangulation was not the cause of death'
Jordan Neely photo from 2009. (Andrew Sabrich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Riser said Penny would repeatedly loosen her grip when Neely stopped struggling, only holding her down when she tried to break free.
“If there is any doubt that Penny strangled Neely to the point of near suffocation, then we need to look for another cause of death,” he said, adding that defense expert Dr. Satish Chundru believed Neely died from complications. He pointed out that he had testified that Use of the synthetic drug K2, genetic disease of sickle cell, psychosis, exertion due to combat.
“Danny could not have foreseen death by scythe,” the lawyer said. “So he's not guilty.”
Final witness reveals Jordan Neely had open warrant, Daniel Penny's defense adjourns, defendant won't testify
Tundor's testimony echoes the official autopsy findings of Dr. Cynthia Harris of the New York City medical examiner's office, who maintained that Neely's death was solely due to strangulation, after watching the video of the altercation before toxicology results were released. It was contradictory.
The defense also played body camera footage from responding officers, one of whom repeatedly said Neely was still breathing.
This screenshot from a bystander video shows Jordan Neely being restrained in a chokehold on a New York City subway. (Luces de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez, via Storyful)
Mr. Reiser painted the scene for the jury. When the F train arrived at the station, a “tall, muscular” Neely boarded the train, drugged and erratically screaming. Neely suffered from schizophrenia, severe paranoia and psychosis. A former Michael Jackson impersonator thought he heard the voice of the devil after hallucinating a conversation he had with the late rapper Tupac Shakur. Neely is said to have rushed onto the train, threw his jacket on the floor, declared he didn't care if he died or went to jail, and threatened to “kill his mother.”
“Will it be me? My children?” Riser asked. “Everyone was frozen in fear.”
Attorney Daniel Penny appears alongside attorney Steve Riser at the New York Criminal Courts building in Manhattan on November 14, 2024. (Adam Gray, Fox News Digital)
He examined testimonies from multiple female passengers, each of whom spoke of fear and panic. He played body camera footage of officers who spoke with them at the scene. They all have the same thing in common, he added.
“It's Daniel Penny who protects them,” he said. “Why? Because there was something special about him. It's training. When Danny performed, he didn't know if Jordan was armed or not.”
He added that some of these passengers bravely resisted the protesters outside the courthouse and risked their own safety to testify in court in order to repay the favor.
He responded to 911 calls, including initial reports of knives and guns, confusion and delayed police response.
A courtroom sketch depicts Daniel Penny and prosecutor Dafna Göran on the first day of testimony at Penny's trial on November 1, 2024 in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City. (Jane Rosenberg)
He said Penny waited until police arrived before willingly talking to them without a lawyer present, not even knowing Neely had died.
Mr. Yoran gave closing remarks on behalf of the prosecutor's office.
“No one had to die on May 1, 2023,” she said. “Jordan Neely entered the subway car in a very threatening manner…less force would have been required…Daniel Penny could easily have restrained Neely without suffocating him. Defendant. We are here today because we used too much force for too long and in too reckless a manner. ”
Mr Yolan claimed Mr Penny could have let go if asked by bystanders, as he played the video of the incident over and over again, some of which was difficult to hear in court.
She claimed Mr Penny knew Mr Neely “could have” died but did not care when he remained at the scene and voluntarily spoke to officers. . They did not tell him that Neely was dead and did not arrest him. He turned himself in 11 days later after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office secured a grand jury indictment against him.
Judge Maxwell Wylie asked jurors to return Wednesday to continue deliberations if they could not reach an agreement by the end of Tuesday. The court had adjourned on Wednesdays since the start of the trial.
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If Penny is convicted of the top charge of manslaughter, he could face up to 15 years in prison. He is also charged with criminally negligent homicide.
