(NewsNation) — Defense arguments are set to begin Monday in the trial of Daniel Penny, a former Marine accused of killing a mentally ill man on the New York City subway.
Penny is charged in the death of Jordan Neely, a man experiencing homelessness with a history of mental health issues. In 2023, witnesses described Neely acting erratically and yelling on a train. Video showed Penny restraining Neely with a chokehold.
Prosecutors say Penny went too far and because of his military training, should have known that continuing to use the hold for several minutes could be deadly.
On Friday, the prosecution brought forth their last witness, forensic pathologist Cynthia Harris. She was the medical examiner who examined Neely’s body and determined the cause of death.
The defense began cross-examining Harris on Friday afternoon and is expected to continue questioning her on Monday before beginning to call their own witnesses.
“It is my medical opinion that there are no alternative reasonable explanations for Mr. Healy’s death,” Harris said of her conclusion.
But the defense has tried to portray her as hasty, pointing to May 2, 2023, when Harris said Neely’s cause of death was pending further study. One day later, she revised the cause of death to compression of the neck and the chokehold.
The defense is arguing she rushed her conclusion before toxicology came back. Harris confirmed Neely had the drug K1 in his system, a synthetic drug more potent than marijuana that can cause erratic behavior.
It’s unclear when Neely last took the drug or how much was in his system, but Harris maintained it wouldn’t matter, saying that even if Neely had taken enough drugs to “put down an elephant,” no toxicology result would change her opinion.
Another moment from last week’s proceedings that made waves was an interrogation video shown in public for the first time.
It showed Penny apparently unaware Neely had died and he is heard telling detectives, “I’m not trying to kill the guy.”
In the video, Penny described Neely as saying he was going to kill everybody and that he didn’t care about going to prison forever. Penny said he handed his phone to the person next to him, took off his headphones and grabbed Neely from behind, saying his goal was to keep Neely from hurting anybody else.
It’s unclear whether Penny will take the stand in his own defense.
