Jordan Neely Michael Jackson Impersonator dies at age 30

Daniel Penny manslaughter trial DA wants to ban testimony on Jordan Neely’s psych history, K-2 abuse before subway chokehold death

Prosecutors are trying to ban testimony at Daniel Penny’s upcoming trial that would detail Jordan Neely’s psychiatric history and chronic abuse of the drug K2 — something Penny’s lawyers argued “goes to the heart of any justification defense” in the lightning-rod subway chokehold case.

Defense attorneys for the ex-Marine — who faces manslaughter charges for allegedly choking Neely to death on a Manhattan train car in May 2023 — want forensic psychiatrist Dr. Alexander Bardey to testify about Neely’s abuse of the synthetic cannabinoid at next month’s trial.

They also want to introduce Neely’s voluminous psychiatric records, which include 6,000 pages’ worth of material that detail the homeless man’s family history, surgeries, prior “bad acts” and more, according to court documents.

Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a recent filing that the testimony and records would only serve to batter Neely’s reputation before the jury.

“Their suggested introduction is a transparent attempt by the defense to smear the victim’s character so that the jury will devalue his life,” Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran wrote about the defense’s request.

The doctor’s proposed testimony about Neely’s past volatile behavior and aggressive tendencies is “clearly impermissible” because it’s not related to the fatal encounter, the prosecutor wrote.

“The only thing relevant to the justification defense is the victim’s behavior at the time of the incident,” Yoran continued.

“Numerous witnesses will testify regarding Mr. Neely’s aggressive behavior on the date of the incident. The jury does not need and cannot be permitted to hear Dr. Bardey’s opine as to why Mr. Neely was aggressive.”

In a response dated Tuesday, Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, wrote that the defense had no intention of trying to smear Neely’s reputation in open court.

“Instead … it is the Government’s motives that should be examined, as they seek to impede the jury’s truth-seeking function by suggesting that jurors be barred from considering facts relevant to issues material to this case,” Kenniff wrote in the filing.

The attorney also argued that the testimony and evidence would “demonstrate that Mr. Neely was likely under the influence of K2 and experiencing a psychotic episode when he boarded the Queens-bound F train on May of last year, the manifestations of which made his appearance and affect more pronounced and hence more threatening to Mr. Penny and his fellow riders.”

That information, he continued, would “inform the jurors’ understanding as to the plausibility of the witness accounts and the degree of hostility that Mr. Neely exhibited.”

Neely’s toxicology reports confirmed he had K2 in his system when he died, Kenniff said. But the report didn’t say how much was present.

The expert testimony would show that Neely was using the drug right before his fatal encounter with Penny, and that he was showing the same behavioral traits of someone mired in the throes of a K2 high, the attorney said.

“Mr. Neely’s actions at the time of this incident, when viewed through the lens of his treatment history, suggest that he was off his medications, abusing K2, and experiencing a psychotic episode,” the attorney wrote.

“Concepts like proportionality, de-escalation and, of course, reasonableness, are woven into the very fabric of this case,” Kenniff continued.

“It is impossible for the jury to fairly weigh the evidence, and to afford Mr. Penny the fair trial he is constitutionally guaranteed, unless permitted a full understanding of the aggression, irrationality and terror that Mr. Neely was manifesting.”

Penny, a former infantry squad leader, was indicted on charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for the caught-on-camera confrontation that left Neely dead on the floor of a Manhattan F train.

Penny’s attorneys had tried to get the case dismissed in October, claiming there were issues with the prosecutors’ instructions to the grand jury and that the city medical examiner never conclusively established that Penny’s actions killed the homeless man during the struggle.

But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley waved that off, ruling the examiner’s testimony and Neely’s death certificate were more than enough to “establish that [the] defendant’s actions caused the death of Neely.”

Penny — who is free on $100,000 bail — faces up to 19 years behind bars if convicted of killing Neely, who witnesses say launched into an explosive tirade during a train ride on May 1, 2023.

A former Michael Jackson impersonator, Neely had a lengthy history of mental illness and was allegedly threatening other straphangers before Penny stepped behind him and sunk the chokehold that eventually killed him, according to the medical examiner.

Penny has said he didn’t mean to do it.

But he thought he needed to step in and shield his fellow subway riders from Neely, who witnesses say was tossing trash and screaming that he was willing to “kill a motherf—er” and go to jail.

A lawyer for Neely’s family said earlier this year that Neely was riding the train unarmed and asking for food that day.

“He had no gun, he had no knife, he was hungry,” attorney Lennon Edwards said. “In his desperation, he was emotional. But distress does not mean dangerous.”

“So we’re asking you to keep an open mind — and remember the pain that this family is suffering.”

The trial is expected to start Oct. 21.

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Daniel Penny's defense team wants to 'smear' Jordan Neely in subway chokehold case, prosecutors say

The former Marine is charged with manslaughter and goes on trial Oct. 21.

Testimony about the psychiatric history of a man who died in a chokehold aboard a New York City subway is only meant to "smear" the victim and should be precluded from the upcoming trial of a former Marine charged with manslaughter in the case, the Manhattan district attorney's office said in a new court filing.

Daniel Penny is scheduled to stand trial next month after he put Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold in May 2023 aboard an F train in what his attorneys say was an effort to "protect the lives of his fellow passengers." Penny's attorneys are seeking to call a forensic psychiatrist who they said would "opine regarding the extent of Neely's K2 abuse" and why that may have caused him to allegedly become "insanely threatening" to subway passengers.

Prosecutors asked the judge to exclude the testimony of the psychiatrist, Dr. Alexander Bardey, and limit what the defense can show from Neely's psychiatric records.

"The psychiatrist's testimony and the unredacted psychiatric records are inadmissible and their suggested introduction is a transparent attempt by the defense to smear the victim's character so that the jury will devalue his life," Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said in a motion to preclude Bardey's testimony from trial.

"Numerous witnesses will testify regarding Mr. Neely's aggressive behavior on the date of the incident," Yoran said. "The jury does not need and cannot be permitted to hear Dr. Bardey's opine as to why Mr. Neely was aggressive."

The defense has said Neely's psychiatric history includes non-compliance with medication and chronic K2 abuse and argued that is relevant for the jury to hear.

"Neely's history of volatile behavior while in treatment, and the steps taken to subdue/restrain him, are documented in these records, and speak to why our client had to use the force necessary to restrain him on the date of incident," said defense attorney Thomas Kennif, who has argued Penny was justified in seeking to subdue Neely.

Penny has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and negligent homicide charges. He is scheduled to begin trial Oct. 21, re-submitting the highly charged case into the public consciousness less than a month before the election.

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Daniel Penny appears in court for pretrial hearing in Jordan Neely's chokehold death

Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran charged in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, appeared in court in Lower Manhattan Thursday for a pretrial hearing.

The hearing was held to sort out which evidence will be presented at Penny's trial. Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to start on Oct. 21.

Penny is charged with second-degree manslaughter and one count of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who was shouting and begging for money on a Manhattan train the day of the May 2023 incident, according to multiple witnesses.

Penny pinned Neely to the floor of the moving subway car with the help of two other passengers and then held him in a chokehold for more than three minutes.

Neely, 30, lost consciousness during the struggle and was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The chokehold death was caught on video by a bystander. Penny, a Long Island native, has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

In court Thursday, reporters heard a video recording of Penny speaking to two New York City police detectives at the 5th Precinct after his encounter with Neely.

Two additional videos taken by body cameras worn by two officers who responded to the subway station where the incident occurred were also played in court Thursday.

The defense is trying to establish that police had no probable cause to treat Penny as a criminal suspect.

NY1 spoke with one of Penny's defense attorneys, Steven Raiser, on a break from the hearing.

"Mr. Neely was a threat. They were scared, and Mr. Penny, our client, stepped in and saved them," Raiser said.

Along with showing the three videos, prosecutors called three witnesses to the stand: the police detective who interviewed Penny and two of the responding officers whose body camera footage was shown in court. Prosecutors are relying on that video and testimony.

The detective said that Penny told one of the responding officers that he "took him out," referring to Neely.

One of the responding officers on the stand also demonstrated how Penny described the move he placed on Neely.

Penny was initially arrested on the manslaughter charge in May 2023, but a grand jury added a negligent homicide count, potentially giving a trial jury the option of finding him guilty of the lesser charge.

Penny, who served in the Marines for four years and was discharged in 2021, has said he acted to protect himself and others from Neely that day.

Neely's family members and their supporters have said Neely, who struggled with mental illness and homelessness, was crying out for help and was met with violence.

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Video Footage Of Daniel Penny Interview Played During Pre-Trial Hearing For The Death Of Jordan Neely

The criminal trial is underway for Daniel Penny, the vigilante Marine who was charged with second-degree manslaughter after he was captured on video applying a chokehold that allegedly killed 30-year-old unhoused Black man Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train last year. Two hours after Neely died from “compression of the neck,” according to a medical examiner, Penny was interrogated by two detectives in the New York Police Department’s Fifth Precinct, where he minimized the amount of time he held Neely in a chokehold and insisted that if he hadn’t acted, Neely, who hadn’t physically attacked anyone, would have killed one or more of the passengers. Video footage of that police interview was played during a pre-trial hearing in Manhattan on Thursday.

From the New York Times:

In a video of the interview shown in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday, Mr. Penny told the detectives he stepped in on May 1, 2023, because he felt that the homeless man, Jordan Neely, was acting erratically and “was absolutely killing someone” that day.

On the day of his death, Mr. Neely boarded a northbound train at the Second Avenue station and immediately began to scream, witnesses said.

Mr. Penny, who faces charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, told the investigators that he had taken Mr. Neely to the ground. Each time he felt a “burst of energy,” Mr. Penny said, he held Mr. Neely more steadily and continued to do so until two men helped pin Mr. Neely down.

“As soon as those guys came in and held him, I let go,” Mr. Penny told the detectives, throwing up his hands and leaning back in his chair.

It’s worth noting that Penny, under questioning, said he held Neely tighter every time he felt a “burst of energy,” which seems to mean he admitted to intentionally choking Penny until he was motionless, causing his death — which is exactly what he’s accused of. At any rate, video footage shows he did not let go of Neely even after he stopped moving.

More from the Times:

But a four-minute video made by bystanders from the scene on an F train in Manhattan shows that Mr. Penny in fact continued to hold on. The video shows Mr. Penny with his arms around Mr. Neely’s neck and his legs wrapped around his body. Mr. Neely struggled against Mr. Penny’s restraint, as the other men stepped in. They held on until 50 seconds after Mr. Neely became motionless.

Prosecutors asserted that Penny held Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes and that he was still holding him after the subway train had stopped and the doors had opened, giving the passengers he claimed Neely was “absolutely killing” an exit.

Footage from police body cameras was also played during the hearing. It showed a responding officer who saw Neely sprawled out on the floor of the subway car unconscious asking Penny, “How did he end up in this condition?” to which Penny responded, “I just put him out.” At the precinct, Penny told the detectives, “I’m not trying to kill the guy,” but he insisted he was afraid Neely, who he referred to as a “crackhead” and “crazy person,” would hurt someone.

Penny’s attorney, Thomas A. Kenniff, argued on Thursday that any statements his client made at the scene were obtained illegally and had been “poisoned” because one officer, Sgt. Carl Johnson, had kept him from leaving the subway car, causing him to believe he was under arrest.

“The damage had already been done by the time he had gotten to the precinct,” Kenniff argued.

Dafna Yoran, an assistant district attorney, disputed that argument, noting that Penny was not arrested that day and was free to leave at any time. Prosecutors even asked officers several times if Penny had been placed in handcuffs and the officers answered “no” each time. Yoran also noted that Penny didn’t believe he was under arrest, pointing to the fact that he asked detectives how long the interview would take because he had somewhere to be, directly checking with the officers to ensure “I’m not detained or anything.” (The fact that Neely was dead and Penny admitted to choking him and the attorneys are debating whether or not Penny felt he was arrested as if he shouldn’t have been arrested that day serves as a reminder that our “justice” system might need some tweaks.)

Judge Maxwell T. Wiley, who presides over the case, said he would rule on whether Penny’s statements at the scene were admissible on Friday.

Kenniff also raised the issue of calling a psychiatrist to discuss Neely’s mental illness, treatment history and chronic use of K2, a synthetic drug, all of which prosecutors have argued are irrelevant to the case. Kenniff argued the testimony won’t be used to “disparage” Neely, but it’s necessary because the “public has a right to have eyes on this case, to see what is actually going on here.” However, prosecutors argued that testimony shouldn’t be allowed because state law holds that “a deceased victim’s prior bad acts and psychiatric history are not admissible unless they are relevant to an issue at trial.” Prosecutors called the defense’s request for a psychiatrist’s testimony “a transparent attempt by the defense to smear the victim’s character so that the jury will devalue his life.” It’s unclear if Judge Wiley will also rule on that matter Friday.

According to News Nation, jury selection for the trial is set to begin on Oct. 21.

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Jury will hear what Daniel Penny told NYPD after fatally choking Jordan Neely in subway

A New York City jury will likely hear statements a man made to police after he fatally choked a homeless man on the subway last year, a judge ruled on Friday afternoon.

Daniel Penny told police that Jordan Neely was “going crazy” and that he put Neely “in a choke” because Neely “was threatening everybody,” according to court records.

“I had him pretty good,” Penny told an officer at the Broadway-Lafayette Street station, records show. “I was in the Marine Corps.”

Penny is facing manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges for choking Jordan Neely on the F train last year. He doesn’t deny that he wrapped his arms around Neely’s neck, and says he was trying to protect fellow subway riders because Neely was scaring people. Penny has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A video of Penny holding Neely on the floor of the subway went viral at a time when concerns about subway safety, homelessness and mental illness were top of mind for many New Yorkers.

Police spoke with Penny at the subway station and the local precinct that day, but let him go home afterward. Protesters flooded subway platforms — with some even jumping onto the tracks — and urged Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to bring criminal charges. Penny was arrested more than a week later.

The case became a kind of Rorschach test, as some praised what they said was Penny’s bravery and donated to his multimillion-dollar legal defense fund, while others decried him as an overzealous vigilante.

Neely was once a well-known Michael Jackson impersonator who performed regularly on the subway. He also cycled in and out of psychiatric treatment, used synthetic cannabinoids and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to court records.

As Penny’s late October trial date approaches, both the prosecution and defense teams have asked a judge to block pieces of evidence from the jury, arguing that permitting them could hurt their respective versions of the case.

At a hearing on Thursday, defense attorneys asked a judge to preclude the statements Penny made to police after he choked Neely. They played a video compilation from officers’ body-worn cameras, which showed Penny demonstrating to police how he had held Neely and telling them Neely was “squirming” as he tried to hold him down.

“I’m not trying to kill the guy. I’m just trying to deescalate the situation,” Penny said. “I wasn’t trying to injure him. I was trying to keep him from hurting anyone else.”

Penny’s attorneys argued that the statements he made at the subway station and precinct shouldn’t be used, because police didn’t follow proper protocols before asking Penny questions. But Justice Maxwell Wiley ruled that police did follow the rules, including advising Penny of his right to remain silent before interviewing him at the station. That means anything he said can be used in court, Wiley ruled.

Penny’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon. A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.

Prosecutors also asked the judge on Thursday to preclude some evidence from the trial. They don’t want Penny’s defense attorneys to reference more than 6,000 pages of Neely’s psychiatric records, which they say include information about his family history, past surgeries, notes about his participation in group therapy sessions and information about past “bad acts,” according to court papers.

“The only reason to do so is to influence the jury to devalue Mr. Neely’s life,” Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran wrote in a motion.

The DA’s office has also asked the judge to bar Penny’s attorneys from calling a psychiatric witness to opine on Neely’s psychiatric history and use of synthetic cannabinoids, also known as K2, because prosecutors say he’s not qualified to speak about Neely’s cause of death. Wiley is expected to rule on that request next week.

This story and has been updated with additional information about the case. Catalina Gonella contributed reporting.

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