Bombshell new evidence in Marine Daniel Penny's subway chokehold court hearing as cop admits he gave dying homeless man Narcan but no CPR for 'several minutes'
Daily Mail
Oct 3, 2024
Daniel Penny held Neely in a chokehold on the subway car floor while others assisted on May 1, 2023
Police officers responding to the scene at a New York City subway station where a homeless man who'd been placed in a chokehold by a Marine veteran lay unconscious opted to administer Narcan first rather than CPR, a court heard Thursday.
Daniel Penny, 25, will stand trial this month accused of manslaughter and negligent homicide after he placed Jordan Neely, a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator with mental health issues, in a six-minute, fatal chokehold in May 2023.
But the officers' decision to give Neely a dose of Narcan before performing CPR minutes later could be crucial for the defense as lawyers for Penny rally against the state's efforts to prevent them from calling witnesses to testify about Neely's history of drug abuse and mental illness.
Prosecutors for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg - who has repeatedly been accused of being soft on crime - argue Neely's history is not relevant to the case, and that the defense is trying to 'smear the victim's character so that the jury will devalue his life.'
Neely was behaving erratically on the subway, screaming and threatening commuters on the train, prompting Penny, then 24, to intervene and throw him to the floor.
Penny insists he was simply trying to subdue him for the safety of others on the train, and he's amassed a loyal base of thousands of supporters who have raised more than $3million to fund his legal defense on that basis.
Marine veteran Daniel Penny, accused of killing a menacing homeless man when he placed him in a six-minute chokehold on a train, faced a NYC courthouse Thursday
A police officer testified on Thursday as to the actions Penny said he performed on Neely
The veteran's pre-trial hearing took place at Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday.
The defense insists it is important for the jury to have a full picture of what exactly Penny was dealing with in the moment.
And the testimony of an officer under cross examination on Thursday indicates first responders were also aware of the potential impact of drugs on the victim.
Penny's defense lawyer asked: 'You didn't do CPR for several minutes, right?'
'We didn't,' the officer testified, according to reporting from Inner City Press in the courtroom.
After being probed further, the officer revealed first responders did, however, use Narcan on Neely when they arrived.
Narcan is a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses. The officer said it 'seemed like' Neely was still breathing, and confirmed he still had a pulse when they arrived.
Some agree that Penny acted heroically in the moment, while others say it was a blatantly excessive show of force toward a mentally ill, homeless black man
Supporters have rallied behind Penny and backed a fundraiser in his name
The case shocked America and has divided the public.
Some agree that Penny acted heroically in the moment, while others say it was a blatantly excessive show of force toward a mentally ill, homeless black man.
Supporters have rallied behind Penny and backed a fundraiser in his name.
As he returned to court on Thursday, new donations began pouring in. One donor said Penny 'would have been considered a good Samaritan in yesteryear.'
As of Thursday, the campaign has raised $3.098million for Penny's legal fees with thousands of donations ranging from $5 to $20,000.
One of the most generous donors was former Republican presidential candidate nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, who gave $10,000 to the cause last year.
Daniel Penny is facing charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide following the May 2023 death of Jordan Neely , a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator with mental health issues
Officer Dennis Kang testifies as body cam footage is shown in the pre-trial hearing
On Thursday, the court was played body-camera footage from the day of the incident, in which Penny told officers Neely was ranting on the train about being 'ready to go to prison for life.'
'He's like... I'm ready to die... I think I might have just put him in a choke, put him down. We just went to the ground. He was trying to roll up. I had him pretty good. I was in the Marine Corps.'
Penny's legal team would like those comments to be suppressed at trial.
The state has also repeatedly rebuffed claims that Penny was acting in self-defense, arguing he demonstrated excessive force and should have known that his actions could be fatal, given his Marine experience.
On Thursday, ahead of his jury trial next week, Penny appeared at the Manhattan Supreme Court for a pre-trial hearing
Neely had an extensive rap sheet for crimes on the subway, including vicious assaults of other passengers.
In 2021, he attacked an elderly woman as she left the Bowery station in the East Village. She suffered a broken nose, a fractured orbital bone, and 'bruising, swelling and substantial pain to the back of her head.'
He admitted felony assault on February 9 in exchange for a 15-month alternative-to-incarceration program, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
He was supposed to stay in a treatment facility and stay sober.
Between January 2020 and August 2021, he was arrested for public lewdness after pulling down his pants and exposing himself to a woman, misdemeanor assault for hitting a woman in the face, and criminal contempt for violating a restraining order.
All three cases were dismissed as part of a deal.
In June 2019, Neely assaulted 68-year-old Filemon Castillo Baltazar on the platform of the W. 4th St. Station in Greenwich Village, court records show.
One month earlier, Neely punched a man in the face, breaking his nose on the platform of Broadway-Lafayette – the same subway station where he died.
Neely was a Michael Jackson impersonator who was known and recognized in Times Square (pictured in 2009)
Assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass said the F train they were traveling on arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette station and the door opened less than 30 seconds after the chokehold started.
'Passengers who had felt fearful on account of being trapped on the train were now free to exit the train,' Steinglass said.
'The defendant continued holding Mr. Neely around the neck.'
Steinglass said second-degree manslaughter only requires prosecutors to prove Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally.
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