NEW YORK – Jurors weighing the fate of 26-year-old Marine veteran Daniel Penny asked the judge Wednesday to take another look at three key pieces of evidence. Manslaughter case
Penny is accused of recklessly and negligently killing Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia who abused drugs and made death threats to subway passengers. Someone was “going to die today” and he didn’t. Worry about going to prison for life. Penny grabbed him from behind to stop the rage.
Neely had an active arrest warrant at the time of his death. He was high on K2, a synthetic marijuana drug that acts as a stimulant, and his lengthy criminal record includes a 2021 assault on a 67-year-old woman at another subway station.
Here’s a look at the evidence the jurors asked to revisit.
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Daniel Penney arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court on December 3, 2024 in New York. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
NYPD interrogation of Daniel Penney
People’s Exhibit 36A: Daniel Penney waived his Miranda rights and sat down. The NYPD After being present at the scene after the incident. Detectives Michael Medina and Brian McCarthy interviewed him for about 25 minutes at the Fifth Precinct building in Manhattan.
They did not inform him that Nellie had died.
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“He was talking nonsense … but these guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff,” he told detectives. There were over 20 subway shows in the year before Penny’s encounter with Nelly.
Penny did not testify at trial, so her questioning is the only first-hand commentary shown to the jury in court.
“Some guy comes in, and he’s got his jacket off. And he’s like, ‘I’m leaving. Kill everyone. I’m going to jail forever. I don’t care,” Penny said.
He said he exchanged glances with the man next to him and asked the man to put his phone away. He took out his earbuds. He then caught Nelly in a headlock from behind.
“I, like, grabbed him from behind,” he said.
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Daniel Penny leaves Manhattan Criminal Court after the jury’s second day of deliberations, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Fox News)
“Hmm,” one of the detectives interjected.
“Because he was acting like a madman, like a madman,” Penny continued. “So, and he was walking around on the floor. And, at that point, the train stopped. I was like, ‘Someone call the cops,’ and he’s still, like, walking around, still freaking out. I had two other boys. Help me keep her from fainting, and yes, that’s when you guys came.”
The investigative video was brought into evidence on November 14.
Vazquez video
A screenshot of bystander video showing Jordan Neely being held in a choke hold on a New York City subway. (Los de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez via Storyfill)
PEOPLE’S EXHIBIT 12: This was taken by journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez, who was on the train at the time of the incident. This is the full video of the day including images that have been circulating publicly since May 2023.
Jurors watched the video played repeatedly during the expert’s testimony. It shows Nelly and Penny on the floor of a train car and another person named Eric Gonzales Keeping Blue’s arms down during the struggle.
A screenshot of bystander video showing Jordan Neely being held in a choke hold on a New York City subway. (Los de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez via Storyfill)
Brought into evidence on November 4.
NYPD Bodycam Compilation
PEOPLE’S EXHIBIT 34: Shows the point of view of several officers, including the first to arrive.
“He was threatening everybody who came on the train,” Penny says, explaining that he didn’t know if Neely had a weapon but he put it in his throat.
WATCH: NYPD body cam shows Daniel Penny after Jordan Neely throat-slams him on subway car
Officers try to revive Neely, who they say has a pulse but isn’t breathing.
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The officers told Penny they wanted to speak with him at the precinct. Before they leave, he briefly explains what happened next.
“He came in, threw all his s— down, was just aggressive and was like, ‘I’m ready to die, I’m going to jail forever,'” she said. “Going crazy.”
8th Ave in New York’s Times Square in 2009. And Jordan Neely is photographed outside 42nd St. before going to see Michael Jackson’s “This is It.” (Andrew Savolich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Brought in evidence on November 12.
Jurors also asked the judge to re-read his instructions on “justification,” whether Penny’s use of force was legally justified given the danger to Neely.
The jury also requested testimony from forensic pathologist Dr. Cynthia Harris during cross-examination from Nov. 15, when she responded to the defense about issuing a second death certificate and said that even if tests had shown the presence of fentanyl, she would have Do not change your mind. .
They asked to hear all testimony up to and including the part where she admits she told the grand jury she didn’t know if she had witnessed “sustained substantial pressure.”