Marine veteran Daniel Penney is on trial for the manslaughter of Jordan Neely on the New York subway.

Eric Levenson, Gloria Pazmino and Mark Morales, CNN

(CNN) — Opening statements will begin Friday for a U.S. Army veteran accused of fatally strangling a homeless black man on a New York subway last year, in a case that touches on thorny issues of subway crime, mental illness, race relations and vigilante justice.

Daniel Penny, a 26-year-old former Marine, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 2023 death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely. Penny pleaded not guilty and claimed he acted to protect others.

Neely boarded a crowded subway in Manhattan and was disorderly behavior and loud shouting, according to witnesses. Penny, who is White, then grabbed Neely from behind and choked him, and he held it for about six minutes, including after Neely stopped moving, according to prosecutors.

Neely was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Forensic experts declared his death a homicide.

Several minutes of the strangulation were caught on video by bystanders, leading to protests and calls for Penny’s arrest. Others defended Penny’s actions and donated more than $3 million to his legal defense fund.

Penny surrendered to the police on a manslaughter charge nearly two weeks after Neely’s death, and The Manhattan District Attorney’s office announced the indictment at the end of next month.

“Daniel Penny is charged with involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly held Jordan Neely in a lethal mental grip for several minutes until he stopped moving,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. said last year.

The killing polarized the city’s residents, many of whom had personal experience of the subway riots, and raised broader questions about racial dynamics and how the city treats people with mental health problems. Former President Donald Trump told Fox News last week that it was a “very difficult case.”

During jury selection over the past two weeks, most jurors said they often ride the subway and have witnessed outbursts of people behaving erratically on trains. Some said the outbreaks made them feel “personally threatened,” while others said the outbreaks did not.

Penny said Neely was behaving in a threatening manner, and him lawyers said they are confident that a jury will find his actions “completely justified.” Penny, who is out of jail on $100,000 bond, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter and up to 4 years if convicted of negligent homicide.

Jeremy Saland, a former prosecutor at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said the case involved many serious issues and emotions.

“It’s something that is relatable to a lot of people and so it’s fired up passions on both sides, from ‘Leave Penny alone, all he did was protect the lives of other subway passengers’ and conversely, ‘He’ needs to be held accountable for taking another person’s life”.

What happened in the subway?

The evidence is likely to focus on the testimony of witnesses who were on the train that day, as well as experts on medicine and restraint tactics. The defense said they have not yet decided whether Penny will testify.

The fatal encounter occurred on the afternoon of May 1, 2023, on a northbound F train at Second Avenue Station in Manhattan.

According to Juan Alberto Vasquez, Neely, a Michael Jackson impersonator, yelled at passengers that he was hungry, thirsty and tired of not eating and threw his jacket on the floor of the train. a witness who filmed the event.

“I don’t care if I die. I don’t care if I go to jail,” Neely said, according to Vasquez.

Penny then came up behind Neely and choked him, causing them to fall to the ground and stay there for several minutes. When police arrived at the Lower Manhattan subway station before 2:30 p.m., they administered first aid to an unconscious Neela.

In a submission to courtprosecutors said witness accounts differed on Neely’s exact words and actions before the strangulation. While several witnesses said they were afraid of Neely, others felt differently, including one person who described the moment as “just another day in New York.”

None of the witnesses said Neely had physical contact with anyone before Penny approached him from behind, according to prosecutors’ filings.

“Many witnesses said Mr. Neely said he was homeless, hungry and thirsty. The majority contends that Mr. Neely has expressed a willingness to go to jail or prison,” the prosecutor wrote in the filing.

Penny told police Neely was “angry” and “threatening everyone” and others on the train were scared, according to court records filed last June. “I just let it out. I just strangled him,” Penny said.

Penny also said New York Post he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life” and the incident “had nothing to do with race”.

Neely’s family members will be in court

Penny is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, according to law enforcement and military records. He was a sergeant and served from 2017 to 2021, and his last assignment was at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, military records show.

Thomas Canniff, Penney’s attorney, said his client was trying to help others in the subway who were afraid of Neely. He also challenged the medical examiner’s finding that Neely’s death was caused by strangulation.

“Our client came to help others. He did not cause Mr. Neely’s death, he did not intend Mr. Neely’s death, he did not foresee Mr. Neely’s death,” Canniff said at an Oct. 21 news conference.

“His actions are what any of us who, riding the subway and seeing someone behaving the way Mr. Neely did, threatening the lives of men, women and children on a subway train, would want to. someone will do it for us,” he added.

Neely was known for his Michael Jackson’s smooth dance moves it entertained many, but he struggled after the trauma of his mother’s murder in 2007 when he was 14 years old. A source told CNN last year that Neely was on the New York City Department of Homeless Services’ list of urban homeless people in dire need, sometimes referred to as the “top 50 list.”

Donte Mills, an attorney representing Neely’s family, said the street artist’s loved ones have not moved on from the subway murder and never will.

“The fact of the matter is, someone got on a train and screamed, and someone choked that person to death,” Mills said at an Oct. 21 press conference. “These things will never balance, and there is no excuse that can balance these things.”

Mills said 20 family members will be in court.

Saland, a former prosecutor, said a huge factor in the case will be eyewitness accounts of the interaction and whether the use of force was justified.

“Was this threat real and imminent? We are based on the standards of a reasonable person, Saland said. “That’s why he’s going to rely not only on what Penny says, but what these other people have said in terms of their observations of what happened.”

CNN’s Jessica Singh, Ray Sanchez, Sharif Paget and Veronica Straqualursi contributed to this report.