Daniel Penny’s protection attorneys rested their case Friday with testimony about Jordan Neely’s open warrant — and with out calling the Marine veteran to the stand at his lighting-rod manslaughter trial.
The ultimate witness known as by the protection was a court docket clerk, Brian Kempf, who instructed Manhattan Supreme Court docket jurors about issuing an arrest warrant for Neely after the homeless man failed to look for a court docket date in February 2023 — simply two months earlier than his dying on the ground of an uptown F prepare.
Penny’s choice to not testify signifies that jurors is not going to hear his personal clarification for why he stored Neely, who witnesses say delivered an “unhinged” rant towards passengers, in a six-minute-long chokehold.
“This jury has heard from Mr. Penny. They heard from him before he had the opportunity to have an attorney.They heard him in the minutes and hours after this incident… He told them what happened, and he said all the same things, all the same things in essence that the credible eyewitnesses testified. That Jordan Neely was terrifying,” Penny’s legal professional, Thomas Kenniff, instructed reporters after court docket wrapped Friday.
“He believed like so many eyewitnesses that he was going to make good … He thought someone was going to get hurt, he thought someone was going to get killed and he acted. I don’t know how much the jury has to hear in that regard.” Kenniff stated.
Closing statements are anticipated on Dec. 2.
