Daniel Penny, the marine accused of choking a homeless, subway street performer to death last year aboard a Manhattan train, will face trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Photo by Dean Moses
Daniel Penny, the Marine accused of allegedly choking homeless subway street performer Jordan Neely to death last year aboard a Manhattan train, will face a criminal trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Penny returned to criminal court in Lower Manhattan on Jan. 17 flanked by court officers. Appearing before Judge Maxwell Wiley for the first time in 2024, Penny sought to have his charges dismissed. Those hopes were quickly dismissed, however, when Judge Wiley denied Penny’s motion, and setting forth a trial to commence later this year.
Neely’s death sparked mass protests in May after his death was caught on camera, and the footage quickly went viral on social media. Penny’s defense team alleges that Neely — who was known to dress as Michael Jackson and busk in the transit system — was threatening straphangers, prompting Penny to step in.
Several eyewitnesses, on the other hand, have accused Penny of allegedly putting Neely in the fatal chokehold without provocation.
After Wednesday’s hearing, Neely family attorney Dante Mills expressed relief that the trial against Penny will go on.
“The judge denied the motion to dismiss the case,” Mills said as he stood next to Neely’s father. “We know now that this case will move forward, that Daniel Penny will stand for these charges, he will have to face a jury.”
Andre Zachary, Neely’s father, refused to speak on the case.
Penny’s legal team responded to the judge’s decision to not dismiss the charges, calling the prosecution “ill-conceived.”
“While we disagree with the Court’s decision not to dismiss the indictment, we understand that the legal threshold to continue even an ill-conceived prosecution is very low,” said attorneys Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff in a joint statement. “We are…
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