NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A trial will be held in October for the former U.S. Marine charged in the chokehold death of a homeless man on a subway train in SoHo last spring.
In Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley set a trial date of Oct. 8 for Daniel Penny, who faces charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old former Michael Jackson impersonator.
Penny, 24, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, insisting he acted in self-defense against Neely, who witnesses said was acting erratically and shouting he was "ready to die" as he begged for food on an F train near the Broadway–Lafayette Street stop when Penny and two other passengers subdued him.
Some of the chokehold was captured on video by a fellow passenger, and the case went on to garner national attention. Some called Penny a hero who stepped up to protect riders, while others said he was a vigilante who killed an unarmed man who hadn't hurt anyone.
According to prosecutors, Penny put Neely in a chokehold for "approximately six minutes and continued well past the point at which Mr. Neely had stopped purposeful movement." The city medical examiner found he died of compression of the neck.
The trial is sure to be watched closely in the city, where transit crime and homelessness remain hot topics. Just last week, the Brooklyn D.A.’s Office said it didn’t plan to charge a subway rider who disarmed a man with a gun and then shot him in the head with it, citing "evidence of self-defense."
After the judge denied a request to dismiss Penny's case in January, his attorneys said they were looking ahead to the trial.
“We are confident that a jury, aware of Danny’s actions in putting aside his own safety to protect the lives of his fellow riders, will deliver a just verdict,” attorneys Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff said in a statement at the time.
On Wednesday, an attorney for Neely’s family, Lennon Edwards, noted that Neely had no weapon.
“In his desperation, he was emotional, but distressed does not mean dangerous,” Edwards said.
Neely’s family has said they want to see Penny convicted of the charges.
“Daniel Penny was judge, jury and executioner,” Edwards said. “And we’re expecting that when this trial starts he will be facing a judge, a jury and a sentence.”
Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if he's convicted of the manslaughter charge. Prosecutors would have to prove he recklessly caused Neely’s death while being aware of the risk of serious harm.