Daniel Penny's mother, fellow Marines take stand in NYC subway chokehold trial
NEW YORK — Tuesday marked the first full day of the defense's case in the trial of Daniel Penny.
He's the Marine veteran charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, 30, on board the subway last year.
Prosecutors are trying to prove Penny was reckless and argue though his intentions were good, he used excessive force keeping Neely in a chokehold for nearly six minutes. Penny told detectives after the incident he was not using pressure.
Character witnesses testify for Daniel Penny
Penny's mother, Gina, took the stand and told the jury he was taught honesty, humility and kindness growing up, that he did well in school, sports and played the bass in a couple of Long Island orchestras.
She looked at him while testifying, telling the court she loved him with all her heart.
"Of course I would be here for my son," she said.
Penny's platoon sergeants took the stand, telling the jury about the Marine Corps values – honor, courage and commitment – explaining if you don't uphold those values, you won't get promoted.
Penny's attorney asked one Marine veteran if Penny had a reputation "of a calm and peaceful person."
"Absolutely," he said, also noting Penny received a humanitarian service medal for hurricane relief work.
"You have to be someone who displays empathy above reproach," he said.
Another Marine said that if you "give him a task, I know it's going to be completed and done right."
Expert reviews Neely's psychiatric records
Witnesses have testified that Neely entered an F train in May 2023, shouting threats, and that Penny moved to restrain him.
Tuesday afternoon, a forensic psychiatrist, an expert witness for the defense, took the stand. He reviewed Neely's psychiatric records, thousands of pages detailing more than a dozen hospitalizations.
Neely, he says, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and K2 abuse.
This doctor never evaluated Neely but says he would classify his mental illness as "severe" based on his history, reading from some reports "he describes paranoid fears [that] people want to hurt him."
He mentions hearing the devil's voice.
One hospital report said that while smoking K2, Neely said "he had changed the world with Tupac Shakur and that now his life is in danger."
There is no court Wednesday. The defense will call another expert witness on Thursday.
