NEW YORK – Opening statements are set for Friday in the criminal trial of Daniel Penny, the accused U.S. Navy veteran placement of homeless man Jordan Neely in a fatal suffocation last year on a New York City subway train.

The Penny, 25 years old is accused of “negligently causing the death” of Neely, a 30-year-old man former street performer who witnesses said was acting erratically on the train back on May 1, 2023, when Penny moved to restrain him.

Penny, who served four years in the Marines before being released in 2021, was free on $100,000 bond. The process is expected to take four to six weeks.

The jury consists of seven women and five men, including four people of color.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office filed a motion accusing the defense of eliminating several potential jurors based on race.

He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of second-degree manslaughter and up to four years if convicted of manslaughter.

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Daniel Penny is seen in spectator video holding Jordan Neely in a chokehold. (Luces de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez via Storyful)

The case comes from a May 1, 2023 altercation on the F subway train in Manhattan, where witnesses say Neely was yelling and demanding money when Penny approached him.

According to prosecutors, Penny pinned Neely to the ground with the help of two other passengers and placed him in a headlock for more than three minutes. Video of the incident showed Penny attempting to subdue Neely by putting him in a chokehold.

Neely struggled with suffocation for several minutes, after which he was transported to Lenox Hill Hospital and pronounced dead. The coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide caused by neck compression.

Eleven days after the fatal incident, Penny turned herself in to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Family members say Neely was homeless and struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues.

Penny’s attorneys argued the Long Island native didn’t intend to kill Neely, just to hold him down long enough for police to arrive. Penny claimed that Neely yelled, “I’m going to kill you” and that he was “ready to die” or go to prison for life.

Penny’s attorney, Steven Raiser, said the defense plans to offer other potential causes of Neely’s death, including high levels of a synthetic cannabinoid known as K2 found in his body.

“What the jury will also know is that he (Neely) is good at K2, which is a very, very dangerous drug that has historically made people violent, erratic, suicidal, you name it,” Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff. , he said in an appearance on Good Day New York.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued in their court filings that Penny’s actions were reckless and negligent, even though she did not intend to kill Neely. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment ahead of the trial.

“The government failed Mr. Neely,” Raiser told GDNY. “Because he had mental health conditions in the subway system, high on K2, because he was trying to self-medicate after having a long, long history of criminal offenses involving violence,” Raiser said.

The dramatic scene caused fierce debate and division between those who believed Penny had acted heroically and others who believed she had shown excessive force.

Jordan Neely is pictured before going to see Michael Jackson’s movie “This is It” outside the Regal Cinemas in Times Square in 2009. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Neely had made money impersonating Michael Jackson in the past, but was sometimes homeless.

Street artists who knew Neely described him as a kind and talented impressionist who sank into a depression following the death of his mother in 2007. According to news reports at the time, Christie Neely was strangled . Neely, who was 14 when she died, testified against her mother’s boyfriend at the murder trial.

Neely had a criminal record with 44 previous arrests – many of them subway-related, including disorderly conduct, assault and fare evasion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.