Prosecutors say the grand jury indictment against a 24-year-old Marine veteran accused of choking Jordan Neely to death on the subway will be unsealed in court later this month.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said Daniel Penny will be re-arraigned on June 28. Prosecutors charged him with second-degree manslaughter in May, about a week-and-a-half after police first interviewed him. DA’s office spokesperson Doug Cohen said the grand jury “returned a true bill” — meaning they decided there was enough evidence against Neely for his case to go to trial — but could not confirm the charge or charges in the indictment.
Typically, a person is arraigned after prosecutors first bring felony charges against them – as was the case with Daniel Penny last month. If prosecutors intend to bring the case to trial, they must then present the case to a grand jury, which votes on whether to indict the person, and on what charges. If the grand jury votes to indict, the person must be arraigned a second time in the Supreme Court. That’s what’s happening June 28. Penny will likely enter a plea at that court appearance, lawyers and experts said.
Penny, who is white, and Neely, who was Black, were both riding an uptown F train on May 1 when Neely started yelling that he was tired and thirsty, according to Juan Alberto Vazquez, an independent journalist who was also in the train car. Vazquez said Neely had thrown his jacket on the ground and said he didn’t care if he died or went to jail. In a video released by his lawyers, Penny said that Neely was threatening to kill subway riders.
Video recorded by Vazquez shows both Penny and Neely on the ground for several minutes, with Neely flailing — and eventually ceasing to move — as Penny's arms are wrapped around his neck. The footage also shows Neely being held down by two other men who have not been identified.
In a video released by his attorneys over the weekend, Penny said he was trying to restrain Neely — not kill him.
“We were all scared,” Penny said. “Mr. Neely was yelling in these passengers' faces, and they looked terrified.”
Penny’s attorneys have noted that the burden of proof required to bring an indictment is lower than the amount of evidence necessary to convict someone of a crime. They said in a statement that their client “saw a genuine threat and took action to protect the lives of others.”
“We’re confident that when a trial jury is tasked with weighing the evidence, they will find Daniel Penny’s actions on that train were fully justified,’ attorney Steven Raiser said.
Lawyers representing Neely’s family praised the grand jury for voting to indict.
“Bottom line — at some point Mr. Penny should have let go before Jordan died. There is no excuse for choking anyone for that long,” said Michelle Watts, a spokesperson for attorneys Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards, in a statement. “Any reasonable person knows choking someone for that long will kill them.”
New York's self-defense law allows defendants to argue in court that they killed someone in order to protect themselves or others.
