new york – Lawyers for Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny, who is on trial in the death of a man described in court as a “double-minded lunatic,” said Thursday they have cited “biased” witness testimony and clear anti-white rhetoric. He asked the judge to declare a mistrial on this basis. From prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The defense claims that Penny did not receive a fair trial and that prosecutors are trying to cast him as a “white vigilante”, including Johnny Grima, a homeless man convicted of bashing someone. , and raised numerous objections. The act of calling a defendant who has not been charged with murder a “murderer” from the witness stand with a baseball bat.
Defense attorney Thomas Kenniff said Penny, 26, was an architecture student who attended college in New York City after proudly serving his country as a Marine.
He said Neely, 30, was an “easy-going eccentric” with a documented history of trouble, including an alleged assault on a 67-year-old woman in another subway car.
Daniel Penny Trial: Subway Madman Raised Fist Before Fatal Stranglehold of Marine, Witness Testifies
Daniel Penny arrives for opening argument at trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, New York City, November 1, 2024. Penny, a retired Marine, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely. New York City subway train. (Adam Gray, Fox News Digital)
Following his remarks, spectators in the audience began to raise their voices, and court officials instructed them to “be quiet.”
Judge Maxwell Wylie rejected the request, but told Kenniff: “I see what you mean.''
Grima, an unemployed 40-year-old from the Bronx who spent time helping homeless people and 13 months in prison, poured water on Neely's unconscious head when Penny told him to stop. He testified.
He then claimed that Penny was “carelessly swinging Neely's arms and legs around” when she put Neely back on the floor after Ms Grima suggested she might suffocate if left on her back. He did not witness the beginning of the altercation.
“It's like an abuser is abusing someone and they don't want anyone to come near the person being abused,” he argued.
Teenager who witnessed Jordan Neely's chokehold says she was 'scared' and wanted to 'run' as he screamed
Screenshot of bystander video showing Jordan Neely being strangled on the New York City subway. (Luces de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez, via Storyful)
Penny's defense team raised questions about how objections were handled during Grima's testimony.
Mr Wylie said Mr Grima's “bias” was clear to the jury, but he believed he still had relevant testimony to provide.
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. The defense maintains that his actions were justified.
A still image from NYPD body camera video shows an officer examining Jordan Neely, who is on the ground after being strangled by Daniel Penny. Penny is on trial for manslaughter and manslaughter. (New York City Police Department)
“He's not charged with murder, so there just needs to be a standard of recklessness or negligence here,” said Paul Mauro, a former New York City police officer who is following the case. “To say he was reckless… [Neely] He was shouting, “I'm going to kill someone!” . . And when officers arrived, he was still breathing. It's not reckless. I'm sorry, but it's not my fault. ”
Daniel Penny Trial: Meet the jury that will decide the fate of veteran in subway strangulation case
A demonstrator holds a sign calling for police abolition in front of Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, October 21, 2024 in Manhattan, New York. Protesters were there as Daniel Penny's trial for the suffocation death of Jordan Neely began. (Barry Williams, Fox News Digital)
Neely was known to police as emotionally disturbed, but he was free to harass members of the public, police said.
“The clue in the whole case is that the police let him go because there were clues at the scene,” Mauro said. “They didn't have a high probability clause.”
Police questioned Penny and released him. He was indicted by Bragg's office a few days later and turned himself in.
This undated photo on Friday, May 12, 2023, provided by Mills & Edwards LLP in New York, shows Jordan Neely (left) with her aunt Carolyn Neely. (Courtesy of Mills & Edwards, LLP, via AP)
Penny could face up to 19 years in prison if convicted. The trial, which was scheduled to last six weeks on Friday, begins on the 12th.
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Bragg's office did not respond to requests for comment.
