MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Closing arguments are expected today in the trial of a Marine veteran accused of choking a man to death on a New York City subway. Prosecutors say Daniel Penny held Jordan Neely in a choke hold for about six minutes. That came after witnesses say that Neely started shouting threats at other subway riders. Samantha Max of member station WNYC has been in the courtroom throughout the trial, and she's here with us now to tell us more about it. Good morning.
SAMANTHA MAX, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: First, I'm going to ask you to walk us through the incident itself, exactly what happened.
MAX: So in May 2023, Daniel Penny is on his way to the gym. He was 24 at the time, and he's a former Marine. Jordan Neely is a former Michael Jackson impersonator. He was unhoused at the time and also had severe schizophrenia, according to court documents. So Neely boards the train just as the doors are closing and he starts yelling something along the lines of that he's hungry, thirsty, ready to die or go to jail, according to witnesses. And then within less than 30 seconds, Penny puts Neely in a chokehold. And he keeps holding, even after the train doors open, even after Neely stops moving. By the time he lets go, Neely is unresponsive and never wakes up. Penny has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges.
MARTIN: We mentioned that you've been following this trial throughout the month. It's been going on for more than a month. Who are some of the witnesses that you've heard from?
MAX: So we heard from lots of people who were actually on the subway that day who kind of painted a picture of what happened. We heard from the military trainer who taught Penny how to use chokeholds, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy. And then the defense also brought in their own forensic pathologist, who shared kind of an alternate theory of how Neely could've died.
MARTIN: And what about Penny? Did he testify?
MAX: No, but we did learn more about him. The defense called a few different character witnesses, including his mom, some friends, fellow Marines. They described him as kind, calm and a peaceful person with integrity. And then jurors also watched videos of Penny, including an interview with detectives at the precinct. Here's an excerpt from that conversation.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DANIEL PENNY: I'm not a confrontational guy. And I'm not out here, like, trying to attack people, you know? It's not me, not how I was trained.
UNIDENTIFIED DETECTIVE: Yeah.
PENNY: You know, I just felt the need - that this guy was saying that he's going to kill people, that he's prepared to go to jail for life.
MAX: And then Penny called Neely a, quote, "crackhead" and said he was, quote, "acting like a lunatic." He also told detectives that he stepped in to protect women and children on the train.
MARTIN: As we said, we expect to hear closing arguments. What are you expecting to hear from each side?
MAX: So I'm expecting the prosecution to say what they've already been saying, which is that Penny went too far and his actions caused Neely's death. And then the defense we're expecting to say that Penny was trying to protect himself and fellow subway riders, that Neely was moving around and that's why Penny kept holding him in a chokehold. It's impossible to know at this point what jurors will decide. But we know from jury selection that these are people who regularly ride the subway. They know, you know, what happens on the subway, so it will be interesting to see how they decide what's appropriate in a situation like this.
MARTIN: That's Samantha Max. She covers public safety and the courts for WNYC in New York City. Thank you, Samantha.
MAX: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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