A Manhattan judge has set an Oct. 8 trial date for Daniel Penny, the Marine Corps veteran and college student accused of manslaughter in the chokehold murder of Jordan Neely, who stormed onto a subway train and threatened people in May.
The trial is scheduled to last four to six weeks, attorneys said in court Wednesday. Penny’s next hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for September 17.
Penny, 24, allegedly told police that an “irate” Neely “was threatening everybody” and yelling about going to jail, according to court filings. He put the “erratic” passenger in a chokehold, and another guy assisted in keeping him restrained until the subway vehicle arrived at the next stop, according to video footage of the event. One witness referred to Penny as a “hero” and expressed concern about Neely’s intentions.
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“I look at where we are in the tube, in the sardine can, and I say, ‘OK, we’re between stations. “There is nowhere we can go,” she told Fox News Digital days after the tragedy. “The individuals on that train worried us. “We were scared for our lives.”
Another witness, who captured the widely shared video of the incident, told the New York Post that he did not believe Neely was in danger as Penny and another man held him down.
Neely has a known history of mental illness and a criminal record that includes previous subway assaults.
Penny cooperated with authorities and was initially released, but he surrendered 11 days later when District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office charged him with manslaughter.
Penny and his defense team left the courthouse immediately after the 10 a.m. hearing on Wednesday and declined to talk with reporters.
“The reality is, if force is used or threatened against riders, and they choose to defend themselves, there is a chance that the assailants will be injured, and the riders defending themselves will be arrested,” one of his lawyers, Steven Raiser, told Fox News Digital before the hearing. “That is a ‘Catch-22,’ let yourself, or someone else, be a victim, or risk being a defendant in court.”
Outside the courthouse, Neely’s family attorney, Lennon Edwards, stated that the dead man was unarmed at the time of the event.
“He was emotional, but distressed does not mean dangerous,” he told reporters. He went on to say, “Whenever we see people with a problem as a problem, that mentality is part of the problem.”
Edwards welcomed the trial date and appeared to expect a conviction.
“Daniel Penny was judge, jury, and executioner,” that’s what he stated. “We’re expecting on that day when the trial starts, he will be facing a judge, a jury, and a sentence.”
Penny faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted of second-degree manslaughter.
Since Neely’s death, transit crime has continued to haunt New York City. New York Governor Kathy Hochul deployed the National Guard and state troopers to help with random bag checks.
A man died last week on a Brooklyn subway vehicle after threatening another passenger with a gun and a knife, according to investigators. The victim got out his gun and shot him.
Prosecutors did not pursue charges against the surviving passenger.
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