Subway chokehold trial: Prosecution to finish closing arguments in Daniel Penny's case; deliberations to follow

Daniel Penny put Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on a Queens-bound F train last year because he failed to recognize the subway performer's humanity or see him as a human being, a Manhattan prosecutor said Monday during closing arguments of the Long Island native's trial on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

But defense attorney Steven Raiser told the jury in his closing statements that Penny acted to protect passengers — and put his own life at risk — when he put Neely in a chokehold.

Prosecutors are expected to finish closing arguments Tuesday before the case goes to the jury.

On Monday, prosecutors said it was laudable for Penny to intervene when Neely boarded the subway car on May 1, 2023, threw down his jacket and began a rant that caused some passengers to fear for their safety, Assistant District Attorney Dafan Yoran said. But the Marine veteran, who had extensive training in martial arts and restraining opponents, knew that the chokehold could lead to Neely's death, the prosecutor said.

“You obviously cannot kill someone because they are crazy and ranting and looking menacing, no matter what it is that they are saying,” Yoran told jurors Monday.

Penny continued the fatal chokehold even after three other passengers told him that Neely was dying, Yoran said, and when other passengers told him that he could ease up because they were restraining Neely's hands so he could not harm Penny or others.

Penny, now 26, also lied to NYPD detectives in the hours after Neely's death, Yoran told the jury. Penny told the police that he eased his grip on Neely's neck after the two passengers said they had his hands, and that Neely was still moving when he let him go. Video recorded by passengers contradicts his account.

"He tried to minimize the risks he took with Mr. Neely's life," Yoran said.

Penny, who declined to testify at his monthlong trial, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Penny's deadly reaction to Neely's outburst has sparked debate about race relations and public safety. Some see Penny, who moved to the East Village after a four-year stint in the Marine Corps to study architecture, as a hero who protected fellow straphangers from a dangerous and erratic man. Others say he is a white vigilante who callously killed a Black man struggling with mental illness.

Neely, 30, performed in Times Square and in the city's subway system and was known for his Michael Jackson impersonations. But after his mother was violently killed when he was a teenager, Neely was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, was repeatedly hospitalized, struggled with drug abuse and had a criminal record that included assault convictions. Dr. Cynthia Harris, the city medical examiner who performed Neely's autopsy, testified that Neely died of asphyxiation from a chokehold.

The Office of the Medical Examiner ruled the manner of death a homicide.

On Monday, Raiser told the jury that prosecutors had failed to prove that Neely died from Penny's chokehold. The cause of Neely's death, he said, was lack of oxygen due to sickle cell anemia, as well as schizophrenia and intoxication from K2, a synthetic cannabinoid. He told the jury that criminal charges were filed against Penny because of "a rush to judgment based on something other than medical science."

Penny had to act, Raiser told the jurors, because Neely entered the subway car at Second Avenue "filled with rage and not afraid of any consequences."

“The police weren’t there when the people on that train needed help,” Raiser said. “Danny was.”

Some witnesses said they feared for their safety after Neely rushed into the subway car, threw down his jacket and shouted that he was hungry and willing to kill, die or go to jail.

"Danny acted to save those people," Raiser told jurors.

In his closing, Raiser asked the jury to imagine how they felt when Neely declared that he was willing to kill or die.

"You're sitting much as you are now, in this tightly confined space," the defense attorney said. "You have little room to move and none to run," Raiser said.

With The Associated Press and Janon Fisher