NEW YORK (AP) — The older sister of Daniel Penny, the former U.S. Marine accused of fatally suffocating a homeless man aboard a Manhattan subway train Monday, she told jurors that her brother was a “calm, gentle person” with a reputation for honesty and integrity.
Jacqueline Penny, a 27-year-old accountant, was called to the witness stand by Daniel Penny’s attorneys after prosecutors rested their case Monday afternoon, beginning a defense presentation that immediately aimed to burnish the suspect’s character and his emphasize military service.
Penny is charged with manslaughter for the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man and occasional subway performer known for his Michael Jackson impression.
Prosecutors say Neely was acting erratically but non-violent on the train when Penny threw him to the ground and placed him in a chokehold for six minutes. “indifference” into the life of a man in the middle of a mental health crisis.
Lawyers for Penny counter that their client showed courage by putting his own safety above that of others as he worked to neutralize a “soulful, psychotic” man whose behavior had frightened other riders.
In her testimony Monday, Jacqueline Penny said her brother was a gentle but “always patriotic” fighter who followed the other men in the family into the military.
Painting a picture of a close-knit town and a childhood full of fishing, sports and lasting friendships, she also said their grandparents had been an important source of support for the four Penny siblings when their parents faced a “very difficult” situation were going through. separation during the suspect’s high school years.
She was followed on the witness stand by Alexandra Fay, a childhood neighbor of the family, who spoke about their “typical upbringing” in a Long Island suburb. “He has the exact same friends he’s had since fifth grade,” she said of Penny.
The defense presentation followed three days of testimony from Dr. Cynthia Harris, the city medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Neely and concluded he died from the chokehold. During hours of cross-examination Monday, Penny’s attorney, Steven Raiser, tried to cast doubt on that finding, questioning the woman’s credentials and suggesting she had “provided no evidence that sufficient pressure was applied” to kill Neely.
Raiser previously said that Neely, who had sickle cell disorder, may have died after ingesting enough synthetic cannabinoid – or K2 – to trigger a fatal “sickle crisis.” Although K2 was found in Neely’s system, Harris said it was “extremely unlikely” that these factors had killed Neely.
She then dismissed the lawyer’s claim that Penny had not put enough pressure on Neely’s neck to block blood flow to his brain. “I believe there is enough consistent pressure on the vital structure of the neck that caused him to lose consciousness and suffer a brain injury,” Harris said.
Jurors in Manhattan also heard testimony last week from another driver, who said he urged Penny to do so loosen his grip on Neely’s neck during the fatal encounter, as well as a former martial arts trainer in the U.S. Marines. The trainer said that Penny had appeared abusing a ‘blood choking technique’ that was taught to US Marines as a method of knocking someone unconscious.
Jurors were also shown video of Penny’s interview with detectives inside the police station, where he repeatedly called Neely a “crackhead” and then demonstrated the chokehold he used to subdue him.
“He had his back to me and I grabbed him, put him on the ground, and he’s still writhing around and going crazy,” Penny said. “He gets a burst of energy at one point and I had to keep him more stable.”