Daniel Penny “did for others what we would want someone to do for us” — defending panicked subway riders from an “aggressive” Jordan Neely — when he put the troubled homeless man in a fatal chokehold, defense attorneys said Friday.
Penny’s lawyer Thomas Kenniff — during opening remarks at the former Marine’s high-profile Manhattan manslaughter trial — painted his client as someone who felt compelled to intervene to ensure other riders weren’t harmed by the raving Neely, making him not quite a hero but definitely not a killer.
“This is a case about a young man who did for others what we would want someone to do for us,” Kenniff told the jury of 12 Manhattanites who will decide whether Penny, 26, “recklessly” caused Neely’s death last May.
Prosecutors, in their own opening statements, argued Penny was indeed “criminally reckless,” holding a 30-year-old Neely down for nearly six minutes — despite knowing his actions could be fatal — because he didn’t “recognize his humanity.“
“Mr. Penny was so reckless with Mr. Neely’s life because he didn’t recognize his humanity,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran told jurors.
Kenniff, during his 20-minute remarks, said his client heard Neely say “I will kill” on the crowded F train and “there was only one thing that Daniel Penny could do.”
When a “seething, psychotic” Neely first got into the northbound train on May 1, 2023, he demanded food and money from other riders and spoke about going to Rikers Island and being sentenced to life imprisonment — before threatening to “kill,” Kenniff claimed.
This all while the passengers’ “fear turns to outright panic” — including a mother who huddled behind a bench to protect her baby, the defense lawyer said.
Penny “summoned the courage” to act, and while “that doesn’t have to make him a hero … it doesn’t make him a killer,” Kenniff argued.
But Yoran, during her 40-minute openings, blasted Penny for going “way too far” when he “took it upon himself to take down Mr. Neely, to neutralize him.”
The prosecutor said Penny’s “indifference towards Mr. Neely, the man whose life he was literally holding in his hands, cause him to disregard the most basic precautions and needlessly kill him, long after any threat he had posed.”
Yoran laid out the evidence the DA’s office will present against Penny at trial, including two videos filmed by bystanders — one of which showed the “life being snuffed out” of Neely, which the prosecutor called “the most critical piece of evidence at trial.”
The first witness called to testify — in the trial that is expected to last around four weeks — was NYPD Officer Teodoro Tejada, who responded to the Broadway-Lafayette station, where the train was stopped, searched Neely for a weapon, but only found a muffin in his pocket.
Jurors were shown footage from Tejada’s body camera, showing medics attempting to revive a lifeless Neely using various tools including, chest compressions, CPR, a defibrillator, and even a shot of the drug Narcan to bring Neely back.
The video also depicted a composed Penny standing by calmly, chewing something like gum while the ETMs worked on Neely.
Neely’s dad, Andre Zachery, cried as he sat in the courtroom gallery watching the video showing his son lying dead on the dirty train car floor.
Penny faces up to 15 years behind bars if convicted.
He has pleaded not guilty and has maintained his actions were not racially motivated.
Kenniff has previously argued Neely’s toxicology reports confirmed he had the drug K2 in his system when he died and was “experiencing a psychotic episode” when he boarded the train.
Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator had a long history of mental health illness, and was on a city roster of people on the streets who desperately needed help, The Post previously reported. The city Department of Homeless Services’ “Top 50” list details which people are cycling in and out of homeless shelters and mental health treatment centers.
As Penny walked into the lower Manhattan courthouse just before 10 a.m. Friday, he was met by a group of Black Lives Matter protesters advocating for his conviction.
The group — holding signs saying “Justice for Jordan Neely” and “Convict Daniel Penny” — variously chanted phrases including, “subway strangler,” “being homeless is not a crime,” and “say his name: Jordan Neely.”
Neely family lawyer Donte Mills said Penny was trained as a Marine in martial arts, as well as first aid, but failed to use it to help Neely.
“He used his martial arts training to kill Jordan Neely and did not use his first aid training at all because he didn’t think that Jordan was worth it,” Mills claimed outside the courthouse.
“He was worth hurting, but he wasn’t worth trying to save. That’s why he’s going to be found guilty after this trial.”
— Additional reporting by Khristina Narizhnaya and Melanie Marich
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