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Closing arguments underway in New York City subway chokehold case
By
Samantha Max
Published Dec 2, 2024
Modified Dec 2, 2024
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(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
By
Samantha Max
Published Dec 2, 2024
Modified Dec 2, 2024
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Daniel Penny’s defense lawyer gave his closing argument Monday, arguing that Penny did not kill Jordan Neely when he held Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes on an uptown F train in May 2023.
Attorney Steven Raiser told jurors that prosecutors didn’t prove that Penny squeezed hard enough to render Neely unconscious or kill him.
“They failed to prove their case, period,” he said.
Penny, 26, has been on trial since late October on charges that he killed Neely, 30, who was homeless, had schizophrenia and had K2 in his system when he died, according to court records. Penny, who served in the Marine Corps for four years, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
Eyewitnesses say Penny wrapped his arm around Neely’s neck and pulled him to the ground after Neely boarded the train and started yelling that he was hungry, thirsty and ready to die or go to jail. Penny continued to restrain Neely for several minutes after the train stopped at the next station, including for nearly a minute after Neely stopped moving, according to evidence presented at trial.
Another passenger on the train that day recorded several minutes of the encounter, and the video went viral, sparking polarized reactions from viewers. Some — including several conservative celebrities — saw Penny as a hero and donated more than $3 million to a legal defense fund on a Christian crowdsourcing website. Others condemned Penny as a vigilante and flooded subway platforms to protest his actions.
On Monday, Raiser said other factors could have caused Neely’s death, including a genetic trait and drugs in his system. He said the medical examiner’s office blamed Penny for Neely’s death without assessing all the evidence, to satisfy the protesters.
“I submit to you there was a rush to judgment,” he said.
Raiser began his closing statement by asking jurors to imagine being on the train with Penny and Neely that day. He displayed images of an uptown F train, accompanied by sound effects, and described Neely “screaming threats” while passengers were “frozen with fear.”
“Daniel Penny was the one who moved to protect them,” he said. “Why? Because he had something the others didn’t. Something unique to him.”
Raiser said Penny chose to act because of his military training. But he said Penny was trying to hold Neely in place — not kill him — because he has a “softer side.” He also accused prosecutors of “scapegoating one man” who “acted when others could not.”
“He put his life on the line,” Raiser said. “He did that for perfect strangers.”
‘All too aware of what the consequences could be’
Prosecutors began their closing statements Monday afternoon, following a lengthy morning delay from the defense due to technical difficulties with their presentation. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg watched from the second row of the packed courtroom. Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, was also in the gallery.
Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran argued that Penny was “absolutely not” justified to use deadly physical force against Neely, and that he should have known he was endangering Neely’s life. She said Penny learned in the Marines that chokeholds can be deadly and also told jurors about other methods from his training that he could have used to restrain Neely, without holding his neck.
“The defendant was all too aware of what the consequences could be,” she said. “He was trained in this. And yet he continued with the foreseeable and tragic results.”
Yoran said Penny could not reasonably believe that Neely posed a deadly threat, because he was unarmed. Though some witnesses testified at trial that they feared Neely might have had a weapon, the prosecutor said Penny didn’t seem concerned about a weapon in his statements to police. She said it wouldn’t have made sense for Penny to use the type of chokehold he did if he thought Neely had a weapon, because it left Neely’s hands free.
The chokehold, Yoran said, started as a tool to protect subway riders from Neely. But once the train doors opened and passengers were able to flee onto the platform, the purpose became to hold him until police arrived, she said, adding that Neely no longer posed an immediate danger.
“Our society has long ago made the determination that it is better to let someone escape than to kill them,” she told jurors.
Yoran also argued that Penny recklessly ignored warning signs that Neely could die. She said multiple people told Penny to stop choking Neely, but he didn’t let go. She said Penny felt the need to protect others on the subway but “just didn’t recognize that Jordan Neely, too, was a person that needed to be preserved.”
Yoran played clips from Penny’s statement to detectives at the police precinct, in which he called Neely a “crackhead” and said “these guys are pushing people in front of trains.” She said Penny lied about when he let go of Neely to make himself seem less guilty.
She also said Penny never asked detectives whether Neely was OK, even though he had watched Neely lying limply on the floor as first responders checked his pulse, pumped his chest and administered multiple doses of overdose reversal drugs.
“Imagine not even caring enough to ask that,” Yoran said. “The defendant, as kind and empathetic as we’ve heard he can be, seems to have a real blind spot for Mr. Neely.”
Yoran is expected to wrap up her closing statement Tuesday morning. She said in court that she’ll be reminding jurors of evidence that showed Penny directly caused Neely’s death.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
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Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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