This accusation comes after previous allegations of racial undertones in the case, which does not involve hate crime charges.
"He didn't recognize that Jordan Neely was a person," Manhattan prosecutor Dafna Yoran stated to the jury, as reported by Fox News. "He saw him as a person that needed to be eliminated." Yoran further argued that Penny's recklessness with Neely’s life stemmed from his failure to recognize Neely's humanity. She presented a video of Penny's police interrogation, in which he referred to Neely as a "crackhead" and told detectives, "You know these guys, they’re pushing people in front of trains and stuff."
Yoran's comments echoed her earlier statements in the trial, where she and her team allowed witnesses to describe Penny as "the White man" and a "murderer." This language led Penny's defense lawyers to object and request a mistrial, arguing that such language, combined with the suggestion that Penny didn't see Neely's humanity, unfairly invoked race and would prevent a fair trial. The judge, however, denied this motion.
In the defense's closing arguments, Steven Raiser, Penny's defense attorney, argued that Penny, a 26-year-old architecture student, intervened when the city of New York failed to protect subway passengers from Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man high on drugs and suffering from schizophrenia. "The government wasn't there. The police weren't there. Danny was," Raiser told the jury. He criticized the government for blaming Penny for the incident, pointing out that it took seven minutes for police to respond to the 911 call and 20 minutes before medics arrived.
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Penny is currently on trial facing charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. The trial has revealed that Neely had a lengthy arrest record, a history of severe mental illness, a drug abuse problem, and an active arrest warrant when he boarded the subway car on May 1, 2023, and began issuing death threats.
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Raiser argued that Penny used a less aggressive restraint than what he'd been taught in the Marine Corps, intending to hold Neely down but not hurt him. "What Danny did was not textbook," he said. "He applied what he learned as a Marine in a less aggressive manner … because the softer side of Danny informed him to apply something less than a textbook Marine blood choke, by choosing not to squeeze Neely to unconsciousness."
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The defense also presented expert testimony from Dr. Satish Chundru, who suggested that Neely's death resulted from a combination of his use of the synthetic drug K2, his sickle cell genetic disorder, psychosis, and exertion from the struggle, rather than solely from the chokehold. This contradicted the official autopsy findings of Dr. Cynthia Harris of the New York City medical examiner's office, who attributed Neely's death solely to the chokehold.
Raiser painted a vivid picture for the jury of the events leading up to Neely's death, describing how Neely, high on drugs and suffering from schizophrenia and severe paranoia, stormed onto the subway train, threw his jacket on the floor, and began issuing threats. He emphasized that Penny acted to protect the other passengers, using his Marine training to restrain Neely.
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In her closing statement, Yoran argued that Penny used excessive force in restraining Neely. "No one had to die on May 1, 2023," she said. "Daniel Penny easily could have restrained Neely without choking him to death. We are here today because the defendant used way too much force for way too long in way too reckless of a manner."
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Yoran suggested that Penny knew Neely was "likely" dead but didn't care when he remained at the scene and voluntarily spoke with police officers. Penny was not arrested at the scene but surrendered 11 days later after a grand jury indictment was secured against him.
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As the trial continues, the jury faces the task of reaching a consensus. If a consensus is not reached by the end of the day Tuesday, Judge Maxwell Wiley has asked them to return Wednesday to continue deliberations. Penny faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge of manslaughter, in addition to charges of criminally negligent homicide.
