Daniel Penny, prosecutor, uses race card in defense objection despite lack of hate crime charges.

Manhattan prosecutors accused Daniel Penny of failing to recognize the "humanity" of Jordan Neely during their closing arguments Monday, weeks after being accused of unfairly hinting at racial undertones in a case that does not involve hate crime charges.

"Manhattan prosecutor Dafna Yoran informed the jury that "He viewed Jordan Neely as someone who needed to be eliminated, not as a person.""

Penny's recklessness with Neely's life was due to his failure to recognize his own humanity, as evidenced by a video of his police interrogation where he referred to Neely as a "crackhead" and told detectives that "You know these guys, they're pushing people in front of trains and stuff."

"We have all dismissed people like Jordan Neely with disdain," she stated. "Perhaps we have grouped them together in this manner, but the context is crucial here. When the defendant speaks dismissively about Mr. Neely, he knows he likely killed him. Can you imagine a rational person speaking in such a manner about a human being they have just killed?"

NYPD detectives did not inform Penny about Neely's death before he agreed to speak with them.

During her opening statement, Yoran employed similar language, and her team permitted witnesses to depict Penny as "the White man" and a "murderer," which led Penny's defense lawyers to object and request a mistrial due to the language used.

Neely's defense argued that Penny unfairly invoked race when she didn't see the humanity in him, which combined with other language, made it impossible to get a fair trial. Despite this, the judge denied an earlier motion to declare a mistrial.

On Monday, during the closing arguments of the defense, Steven Raiser, Penny's attorney, stated that the 26-year-old architecture student intervened after the city of New York failed to protect passengers on the subway car when Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man high on drugs and suffering from schizophrenia, entered and began threatening riders.

"Danny was there, but the government and police were not. When Danny needed help, no one was there. Now the government is blaming Danny for the police's absence. Is it Danny's fault for holding on when the police weren't there?"

The lawyer stated that Neely was "on a collision course with himself" and a "broken system" failed everyone involved, taking seven minutes for police to respond to the 911 call and 20 minutes before medics arrived.

Penny is on trial facing charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

On May 1, 2023, Neely, who had a history of severe mental illness, drug abuse, and an active arrest warrant, boarded the F train car and began screaming death threats, according to trial testimony revealed over the past three weeks.

Penny used "a less aggressive" restraint than what he'd been taught in the Marine Corps, according to Raiser, who argued that he intended to hold Neely down but not hurt him.

"Danny did not follow the textbook approach, as he learned from his experience as a Marine to apply his knowledge in a less aggressive manner. He chose not to use a textbook Marine blood choke on Neely, as the softer side of Danny informed him to use something less than a textbook technique."

Raiser stated that Penny would relax when Neely stopped struggling, but would tighten her grip when Neely tried to escape.

If you suspect that Penny strangled Neely to death, you should investigate other possible causes of death, as Dr. Satish Chundru testified that Neely's death was likely due to a combination of factors, including the use of K2, his sickle cell genetic disorder, psychosis, and the struggle.

"The lawyer stated that since Danny could not predict a fatal sickling, he is not responsible."

Dr. Cynthia Harris of the New York City medical examiner's office, whose autopsy findings contradicted Chundru's testimony, blamed Neely's death solely on the chokehold after watching the video of the altercation before toxicology results had come back.

The defense presented bodycam footage of the responding officers, with one of them repeatedly stating that Neely was still breathing.

Neely, a tall and muscular man with schizophrenia and severe paranoia and psychosis, hallucinated conversations with Tupac Shakur and believed he heard the devil's voice. He then stormed onto the train, threw his jacket on the floor, and declared that he didn't care about dying or going to prison, allegedly threatening to "kill a motherf---er."

""Will it be me or my children?" Raiser inquired, causing everyone to freeze in fear."

He reviewed testimony from several female passengers who reported fear and panic, rewatched bodycam footage of officers speaking with them at the scene, and noted that they all shared a common experience.

"Daniel Penny was the one to protect them," he said. "He did so because he possessed something unique: his training. When Danny acted, he didn't know if Jordan was armed."

Some brave passengers risked their safety to testify at trial, despite facing protesters outside the courthouse.

Early reports of a knife or gun were met with confusion and a delayed police response, as he listened to 911 calls.

Penny willingly spoke with officers without a lawyer present, unaware that Neely had died.

Yoran gave a closing on behalf of the prosecution.

"On May 1, 2023, no one had to die," she stated. "Jordan Neely entered the subway car in a threatening manner, and it was not necessary to use such excessive physical force. Daniel Penny could have easily restrained Neely without choking him to death. We are here today because the defendant used too much force for too long in a reckless manner."

Penny could have let go when bystanders asked him to, as Yoran argued, replaying the video of the incident repeatedly, some of it hard to hear in court.

She claimed that Penny believed Neely was "probably" deceased but didn't show concern when he stayed at the scene and willingly spoke with law enforcement. They didn't inform him of Neely's death, and they didn't arrest him. He surrendered 11 days later after the Manhattan District Attorney's office obtained a grand jury indictment against him.

If jurors fail to reach a verdict by the end of the day on Tuesday, Judge Maxwell Wiley instructed them to reconvene on Wednesday to continue deliberations. Since the trial began, the court has been on a weekly recess on Wednesdays.

If convicted of the top charge of manslaughter, Penny could face a maximum of 15 years in prison. Additionally, he is accused of criminally negligent homicide.