Opening statements it starts on friday in the trial of Daniel Penny, who is charged with the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man which was acting erratically on a New York City subway car, putting it into a fatal hold on May 1, 2023.

The process it is expected to last between four and six weeksaccording to Judge Max Wiley.

Penny, a former Marine, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s death. Wiley denied Penny’s request to dismiss his involuntary manslaughter case in January.

The jury of seven women and five men, four of whom are black, will be asked to do something prosecutors admit is difficult: convict someone of an unintentional crime.

To convict, prosecutors must prove that Penny’s use of deadly force was unjustified and that Penny acted recklessly and knowingly disregarded substantial risk in putting Neely in the block for so long. Prosecutors do not have to prove that Penny intended to kill Neely, which defense attorneys said Neely did not intend to do.

The case fueled political narratives about urban crime and captivated a city where the subway is indispensable.

What happened that day

While there is no doubt that Penny’s actions led to Neely’s death, witness accounts differ as to the events that led Penny to apply the fatal squeeze, according to various sources.

Multiple witnesses reported that Neely, 30, who was homeless at the time of his death and was known to have performed as a Michael Jackson impersonator, said he was homeless, hungry and thirsty, according to the prosecutors. Most witnesses also recounted that Neely expressed a desire to go to jail or prison.

Some witnesses also reported that Neely threatened to hurt people on the train, while others did not report hearing those threats, according to police sources.

In addition, some witnesses told police that Neely was yelling and harassing passengers on the train. However, others said that while Neely exhibited erratic behavior, he did not threaten anyone in particular and did not become violent, according to police sources who spoke to ABC News following the incident.

Some passengers on the train that day said they did not feel threatened, according to court filings. One said he wasn’t “really worried about what’s going on,” while another called it “just like any other day in New York. That’s what I’m used to seeing. I wasn’t really looking at it if I was going. being threatened or something, but it was a little different because, you know, you don’t hear anybody say that.”

Other passengers, however, described themselves as fearful, according to court records. One said they “met a lot of things, but nothing that scared me like that,” while another said Neely was making “half-a-step moves” and getting within “half a foot of people.” .

Neely had a documented history of mental health issues and arrests, including alleged cases of disorderly conduct, fare evasion and assault, according to police sources.

Less than 30 seconds after Penny allegedly placed Neely in a restraint, the train pulled into the Broadway-Lafayette station, according to court records.

“Passengers who felt scared due to being trapped inside the train were now free to exit the train. The defendant continued to hold Mr. Neely by the throat,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said in a court filing opposing Penny’s motion to dismiss.

According to prosecutors, footage of the interaction, which began about two minutes after the incident began, captures Penny holding Neely in a choke hold for about four minutes and 57 seconds on a relatively empty train with a few passengers on board. proximity.

Prosecutors said that about three minutes and 10 seconds into the recording, Neely ceases any intentional movement.

“After that point, Mr. Neely’s movements are best described as ‘jerks and the kind of agonal movement you see around death,'” prosecutors said.

The case is expected to include testimony from passengers who were on board the subway at the time, as well as a roughly six-minute video of the choke hold.

The jury will see evidence that Neely did not have a gun

Before opening statements, the judge ruled the jury would see evidence showing Neely was unarmed.

Penny’s defense tried to exclude evidence or testimony about the lack of a gun recovered from the search of Neely’s body, but in a written opinion issued Thursday, the judge said such evidence and testimony was relevant to the case.

“The fact that Mr. Neely was unarmed provides additional information relevant to assist the jury, namely, it clarifies what someone in the defendant’s position might have perceived,” the judge wrote. “The possibility that a person in the defendant’s situation could have been reasonable in mistakenly believing that Mr. Neely was armed is appropriate for the jury to consider and within their ability.”

The defense worried that including evidence that Neely was unarmed could bolster victim sympathy, but the judge said it would help the jury decide whether Penny’s actions were justified.

Attorneys for Penny and Neely’s family speak before the trial

Prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office are expected to concede that Neely may have appeared frightening to some subway riders, but will argue that Penny continued the blockade well past the point where Neely stopped moving and represented any kind of threat.

Penny’s lawyers said they were “saddened by the loss of life” but that Penny saw “a real threat and took action to protect the lives of others”, arguing that Neely was “insanely threatening” passengers on the train by subway. .

While Penny’s defense will argue that she did not intend to kill Neely, prosecutor Steinglass noted that the second-degree manslaughter charge only requires prosecutors to prove that Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally.

“We are confident that a jury, aware of Danny’s actions in putting his safety aside to protect the lives of his colleagues, will return a fair verdict,” Penny’s attorneys, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, said earlier this year. after Penny’s motion to dismiss the charge was denied.

“This case is simple. Someone got on a train and screamed, so someone else suffocated them to death,” Neely family attorney Donte Mills said in an earlier statement to ABC News. “Those two things don’t balance and never will. There’s no justification.”

“Jordan had a right to his own space. He was allowed to be on that train and even scream. He didn’t touch anybody. He wasn’t a visitor on that train, in New York or in this country.” Mills added.