new york – Many witnesses, especially women, who rode on the subway and witnessed Jordan Neely's death said the incident went beyond the usual outbursts you'd see from a mentally ill person shouting death threats, intimidation, etc. on New York City trains. She testified at trial that she was frightened by his aggressive behavior. Daniel Penny lunged at people before putting him in a chokehold.
But while prosecutors have portrayed Penny as an over-the-top vigilante, they have hinted at racist undertones, and the defense has shown unfair bias against their client, who has not been charged with a hate crime or manslaughter. It is claimed that
Many of the women on the train testified that they were frightened and worried by Neely's verbal abuse and believed Penny's intervention would help, although the defense did not witness the altercation begin. It took issue with the testimony of a man who repeatedly called Penny a “murderer.” ” and “abuser” from the witness stand.
“The female passenger was a good witness for the defense,” said former federal prosecutor Neema Rahmani. “They testified that Neely had threatened to kill them and were terrified for themselves and their children. They were also grateful and relieved that Penny had intervened to protect them. .”
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A courtroom sketch depicts Laurie Citro testifying at the trial of Daniel Penny in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on November 8, 2024. Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, is on trial for the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway. (Jane Rosenberg)
Judge Maxwell Wiley on Thursday denied defense attorney Thomas Kenniff's motion for a mistrial despite concerns about “bias” from witnesses and prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office.
Mr Kenniff described Mr Neely as a “crazy idiot” and claimed Mr Penny's actions were a legitimate defense to protect himself and the other passengers in the car. Wiley rejected the miscarriage of justice, but told Kenniff, “I see your point.
Staten Island-based defense attorney Luis Gerolmino said Wiley has a reputation for being fair to all sides and has tried murder cases before the judge.
“He's very fair,” he said. “He thinks about his decisions a lot. I don't think he leans liberal or conservative one way or the other.”
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A courtroom sketch depicts Alecia Gittings testifying at the trial of Daniel Penny in Manhattan Supreme Court on November 8, 2024 in New York City. (Jane Rosenberg)
But given that Penny has not been charged with a hate crime, Penny's attorneys are understandably concerned that prosecutors might be seen as trying to smear their client with racial overtones. he said.
“It seems like prosecutors are trying to paint him as a racist,” he said. “This is the defense's biggest argument…along with Grima's testimony. It's just the edge.”
The defense argued that Penny had no rights. fair trial And prosecutors have tried to paint Penny as a “white vigilante” and unfairly allowed Johnny Grima, a homeless witness convicted of hitting someone with a bat, to call the defendant a “murderer.” He said he had allowed it and raised a number of objections. He takes the stand when he is not charged with murder.
On Friday, Wiley denied Kenniff's subsequent motion to have Grima's testimony removed from the record. Instead, it said it could include special instructions to jurors about witness testimony.
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)
“That's the defense's point: This is not a hate crime,” Gerormino said. “This is not a racial issue. No one has declared this a racial issue.”
Mr. Kenniff, at least not publicly, argued in court that Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Danfa Yolan claimed in his opening statement that Mr. Penny “did not recognize Mr. Neely's humanity” and that he was not aware of his racial background. He pointed out that he was hinting at. Another prosecutor allowed a witness to repeatedly refer to Penny as a “white man.”
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Daniel Penny arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on October 22, 2024. (Adam Gray, Fox News Digital)
Prosecutors argue that Penny went too far when he became belligerent and screamed in a chokehold after Neely began shouting death threats on a Manhattan subway car.
Witness Lauri Citro testified Friday that she has been riding the subway for 30 years and has seen many unstable people, but this time “it felt different.”
“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.”
A courtroom sketch depicts witness Yvette Rosario on her second day of testimony in the trial of Daniel Penny in Manhattan Supreme Court on November 4, 2024 in New York City. (Jane Rosenberg)
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Not only that, she testified that she never saw Neely struggling to breathe during the “headlock.”
“He was struggling a little bit, but what I noticed was that he didn't seem like he was having trouble breathing,” she said.
She didn't hear him gag, choke or say he couldn't breathe.
“It looked like he was just trying to hold him down,” she said. “That's why when I read the paper the next day, I was shocked to find out what had happened.”
A screenshot from an eyewitness video shows Jordan Neely being placed in a chokehold on a New York City subway. (Luces de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez, via Storyful)
She said it didn't seem like Penny was trying to “suffocate the life out of him.”
“I didn't feel safe when he was moving around erratically,” Citro said. “I've been riding the subway for over 30 years and I've seen a lot of things. I've seen a lot of unstable people, but this felt different to me. I started building a wall between myself and my son.”
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. Among them were teenage straphanger Yvette Rosario, who just wanted to “run away,” and Alecia Gittings, who said she “wasn't scared” and stayed at the scene to speak with responding officers. Several people did so, including Mr.
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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.
“I came back to thank Mr. Penny for his actions in a worst-case scenario,” she testified.
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.
Supporters of Jordan Neely protest at a rally in support of Daniel Penny at Collect Pond Park on May 24, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
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Witnesses and video of the incident also reveal other passengers, including a black man who helped Penny and held Neely down during the riot. Gerolmino told FOX News Digital that it was remarkable that so many prosecution witnesses had similar sentiments.
“I think it's interesting that they put forward quite a few witnesses that they were in fear for their lives,” Gerormino said. “So does Penny have an obligation to release this man knowing he's a danger to those around him and to himself? I don't know.”
Mr. Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, said these witnesses will help Penney's defense, and Mr. Grima's “biased” testimony may not outweigh it.
“Judge Wiley probably recognizes that there is a good chance that Penny will be acquitted based on the testimony so far, in which case the mistrial motion would be defeated,” he told FOX News Digital. told. “Even if Penny were to be convicted, the Appellate Division would not be biased by the racial evidence obtained thus far.”
This undated photo shows Jordan Neely with her aunt Carolyn Neely. (Courtesy of Mills & Edwards LLP, via AP)
Penny is charged with manslaughter and manslaughter. If convicted of both charges, he could face up to 19 years in prison.
Gerolmino explained that the legal standard for manslaughter is recklessness, or “doing something so absurd and outrageous that no one else would do it.” Negligence is easy to prove that Penny failed to “act as a reasonable person would take under the circumstances.”
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“At that point, you have to get to Penny's state of mind, not anyone else's. That's his state of mind,” Gerormino said. Was it reasonable to think so, considering the fact that he said “I don't care” when he continued to hold him like that? I don’t care if I go to prison, I’m going to commit suicide, I don’t care if I die.’ Would any sane person have released him? ”
