Manhattan prosecutors stood by their choice to charge a former Marine Daniel Penny with manslaughter after he allegedly choked a mentally ill homeless person to death on the subway.
They rejected Daniel Penny’s argument that he was defending other riders and maintained that Penny knew exactly what he was doing.
The 24-year-old Penny was charged after 30-year-old Jordan Neely passed away on May 1.
When Penny met Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator, he was experiencing a mental health crisis and had battled mental illness for a long time.
Penny grasped Neely from behind while he was screaming and ranting. She then put him on the ground and held him there for six minutes till he passed out.
The decision to charge Penny with a crime was welcomed by Neely’s family; however, on October 10, Penny submitted a move to dismiss the case.
According to Penny’s attorneys, Neely was a threat to the other passengers, and Penny intervened to keep them safe.
Prosecutors, however, refuted on Wednesday that Neely posed a threat, claiming Penny would have known that his actions could have fatal consequences.
Additionally, even though people felt threatened, Penny was accused by the prosecution of holding Neely for far longer than was necessary.
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Penny Had No Intention to Kill
Assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass retorted that the prosecution only needed to demonstrate Penny behaved irresponsibly, not maliciously, in order to prove second degree manslaughter, despite Penny’s defense saying he had no intention of killing.
The video shows that Penny continued to be choked for an additional 51 seconds.
It is absurd to think that squeezing someone’s neck for six minutes will not necessarily result in death.
Although “chokes” are advertised as a non-lethal form of restraint, the defendant’s own trainer testified that pupils are specifically warned throughout training that a choke may be fatal to the person being held.
Now, Penny’s defense attorneys will address the points raised by the prosecution.
The Long Islander is still at large on $100,000 bail, and if found guilty, he could spend as much as 19 years in prison.
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