NEW YORK — Daniel Penny "used far too much force for far too long" and though he may be an "honorable veteran" and "nice young man," he was reckless with Jordan Neely's life because "he didn't recognize his humanity," Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said in her opening statement Friday during the trial over the fatal chokehold.
Penny is charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in the May 2023 death of Neely, a homeless man who was acting erratically on a New York City subway car.
Penny has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely's death. His attorneys have said Neely was "insanely threatening," but Yoran said Penny's actions were unnecessarily reckless because he continued the chokehold for 5 minutes and 53 seconds after the subway car was empty of passengers. "A grasp that never changed," Yoran called it.
The trial is expected to last between four and six weeks, according to Wiley.
Some witnesses also reported that Neely threatened to hurt people on the train, while others did not report hearing those threats, according to police sources.