Daniel Penny returns to court for closing arguments in subway chokehold trial

Daniel Penny's subway strangulation trial resumes Monday, with attorneys scheduled to begin closing arguments after the Thanksgiving break.

The 26-year-old architecture student and Marine Corps veteran was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old mentally ill homeless man who was high on synthetic marijuana during the break-in. If he does, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. He got into a subway car and started screaming at the passengers.

At the time, there was a warrant out for Neely's arrest, and the final witness in the case before the defense rested its case revealed that he had a long criminal history and suffered from schizophrenia.

Final witness reveals Jordan Neely had open warrant, Daniel Penny's defense adjourns, defendant won't testify

Responding officers questioned Penny without telling her that Neely had died, and then released her. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office secured the indictment nearly two weeks later, and Penny turned himself in.

Various witnesses for the prosecution testified that Neely had threatened prosecutors with death threats during the subway riot. The riots went far beyond the typical subway riots many jurors have witnessed on the city's chaotic public transit system.

Defense attorney Steven Reiser will proceed and is scheduled to deliver closing arguments over a period of about two hours. Bragg's office said it had the final information but would not say how long it would take.

After arguments ended, Maxwell Judge Wylie is also expected to provide thorough instructions to the jury before deliberations.

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Jordan Neely is pictured outside the Regal Cinemas on 8th Avenue and 42nd Street in New York's Times Square in 2009 before going to see the Michael Jackson movie “This Is It.” (Andrew Sabrich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Prosecutors argue that Penny went too far when he became belligerent and choked Neely after Neely began shouting death threats on a Manhattan subway car.

Neely is black and Penny is white, and prosecutors appeared to emphasize the racial undertones of the case in court, even though Penny was not charged with a hate crime. Despite no murder charges being filed in connection with the case, one witness repeatedly called Penny a “white man” and allowed another witness to call Penny a “murderer.”

Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran also brought up the term “murder,” and Mr. Wiley asked the jury to ignore the term, saying that “homicide” to a coroner is different than “murder” to a lawyer or jury. It was explained that it was a thing.

Witness Lauri Citro said she had seen many unstable people in her 30 years on the subway, but this time “it felt different.”

A courtroom sketch depicts Alecia Gittings testifying during the trial of Daniel Penny in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday, November 8, 2024 in New York City. Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, is on trial for the 2023 death of Jordan Neely in New York City. subway. (Jane Rosenberg)

“I was scared for my son,” she testified on cross-examination. “You can't just run to the next train with a 5-year-old in tow. It was such a relief to stop Daniel Penny from moving around sporadically.”

Ms. Citro was not the only woman to testify in court that Mr. Neely scared people when he broke into trains, yelled threats and threw his jacket wildly. Some did. Yvette Rosarioa teenage straphanger who said she just “wanted to run away” and Alecia Gittings, who stayed at the scene and spoke with responding officers, saying she was “terrified”.

Gittings said Neely didn't seem willing to give up as Penny and the other men held her down, and that she was especially frightened by the encounter after previously enduring attacks on other subway cars. Penny testified that she remembered this and that Penny did not appear to be giving up. Rather than apply pressure to Neely's neck, officers tried to keep Neely still on the way.

A courtroom sketch depicts Laurie Citro testifying at the trial of Daniel Penny in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday, November 8, 2024 in New York City. Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, is on trial for the 2023 death of Jordan Neely in New York City. subway. (Jane Rosenberg)

“I came back to thank Mr. Penny for his actions in a worst-case scenario,” she testified.

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Another female passenger who testified, Nike brand manager Kaydlyn Schrank, said that as soon as Neely boarded the train, the stench of “dirty sweatpants” filled the train.

“I was scared that I was going to die at that moment,” she told the court.

In addition to manslaughter, Penny faces a lesser charge of manslaughter. Jurors must find Penny “reckless” to be convicted of manslaughter, or “negligent” if the charge is less severe.