Daniel Penny Pleads Not Guilty in Subway Chokehold Case
Daniel Penny was charged in the death Jordan Neely, whom he placed in a fatal chokehold on a subway. Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images By James Fanelli June 28, 2023 11:45 am ET The 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran who placed Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on a New York City subway pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Daniel Penny entered the plea Wednesday during his arraignment in a state court in Manhattan after a grand jury voted to indict him earlier this month. State Supreme
Daniel Penny was charged in the death Jordan Neely, whom he placed in a fatal chokehold on a subway. Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
The 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran who placed Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on a New York City subway pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Daniel Penny entered the plea Wednesday during his arraignment in a state court in Manhattan after a grand jury voted to indict him earlier this month. State Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley scheduled procedural deadlines in the case and ordered Penny remain released on $100,000 bail. Penny’s next court appearance is set for Oct. 25.
Neely, a 30-year-old Michael Jackson impersonator who was homeless and had a history of mental illness, was scaring and threatening passengers aboard a moving subway train on May 1 when Penny placed him in a chokehold, according to Manhattan prosecutors. Penny, 24 years old, held Neely in the chokehold for several minutes—even after the train reached the next station, prosecutors said.
Former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court on the day of his arraignment hearing for the death of Jordan Neely, a man whose death has been ruled a homicide by the city’s medical examiner after being placed in a chokehold on a subway train, in New York City, New York, U.S., June 28, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Photo: SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS
Neely’s death has drawn wide attention and cast a spotlight on public safety and mental illness in the nation’s largest city. Some progressive officials, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), have said Neely was murdered. Others have helped raise nearly $3 million for a legal-defense fund for Penny.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Wednesday, “I hope Mr. Neely’s loved ones are on the path towards healing as they continue to mourn this tragic loss.”
Steven Raiser, a lawyer for Penny, said outside the courthouse that New Yorkers had a right to defend one another from harm.
“On May 1, 2023, Danny defended his fellow travelers,” he said. “Now it’s our turn to defend him.” Raiser added that he was looking forward to a Manhattan jury hearing the case because many of the jurors know what it is like to ride the subway.
Neely had struggled with mental illness for several years and had moved in and out of treatment programs, according to his family’s lawyers. He pleaded guilty in February to assaulting a 67-year-old woman in 2021. He was placed into a treatment program, but a warrant for his arrest was issued after he failed to appear in court.
Lawyers for Neely’s family didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Write to James Fanelli at [email protected]
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