(NewsNation) — The jury in the trial of Daniel Penny could reach a verdict this week, with closing arguments to be heard on Monday.
Penny was charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in May 2023 after he put Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old man experiencing homelessness, in a chokehold after Neely threatened to kill passengers onboard a New York City subway.
Prosecutors are expected to lean into their main argument, which has been all along that the chokehold from Daniel Penny was the sole reason for Jordan Neely’s death. The defense disputes this and says there were other extenuating circumstances.
Closing arguments will center around the action of the chokehold and the video of Neely speaking to police inside the precinct, then unaware of Neely’s death.
The medical examiner, key to the prosecution, said the reason for Neely’s death was the choke hold, but the defense’s experts said this was not the case. He said it was a combination of four factors, restraint and struggle, Sickle Cell Crisis, 2 a synthetic drug in his system called K-2, and schizophrenia.
Penny told officers in an interview room that Neely told passengers on the subway, “I’m gonna kill everybody. I’m gonna go to prison forever. I don’t care. I’m gonna do this.”
Then, Penny says, he asked a fellow passenger to hold his phone while he subdued Neely.
“Had my headphones in and took it off and just kind of grabbed (Neely) from behind because he came in just to, like, because he was acting like a lunatic, like a crazy person,” Penny said.
The jury has already heard from eyewitnesses on police bodycam footage describing Neely and Penny’s actions. Character witnesses also testified to Penny’s empathetic and kind nature. The defense has decided to not put Penny on the stand.
Closing arguments will begin at 10 a.m. ET at Manhattan Criminal Court.