NEW YORK – New York Marine veteran Daniel Penny was back in court Monday for his manslaughter trialand the third day of testimony by key prosecution witness Dr. Cynthia Harris with the city Medical Examiner’s Office, whose earlier mention of the word “homicide” on the witness stand was expunged from the record.

Penny, 26, is on trial for the death of Neely, 30, but is not charged with manslaughter. Prosecutors charged him with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Neely entered a subway car, threw his jacket on the ground and began making erratic death threats, according to witnesses.

On Monday, under cross-examination, she said it was “possible” that Neely died from complications of sickle cell trait, a genetic blood disorder, that were exacerbated during the fight, but not likely.

MEDICAL EXAMINER SAYS SUBWAY MADMAN PUT DRUGS IN SYSTEM IN MARINE VET’S SUFFERING PROCESS

Daniel Penny arrives in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. Penny, a Navy veteran, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely in a New York City. subway train. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

Under cross-examination from prosecutors, she said she believed Neely would have died of asphyxiation, whether or not she had sickle cell trait.

“This is a protracted struggle,” she said. If he had died of sickle cells it would have passed hours or days later.

Defense attorney Steven Raiser circled back on the issue, asking Dr. Harris if the same type of sickle cell found in Neely’s autopsy could have caused death.

“Sure, uhh, yes,” she said.

She also admitted that she didn’t know what Neely was doing before getting on the train or when the “harvesting” process began.

If Penny had let herself go at a key moment when Neely stopped moving, Dr. Harris testified that she would have expected Neely to wake up, even if she later died of reaped complications.

Dr. Cynthia Harris arrives for the trial of Daniel Penny at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

When we were discussing Jordan Neely cause and manner of death on Friday, Harris noted that “Dr. Graham reviews all homicide reports.”

Judge Maxwell Wiley ordered that comment expunged, but other testimony from the conversation leading up to it would remain part of the case.

Earlier this month, Penny’s defense filed for a mistrial, arguing that prosecutors are improperly portraying Neely’s death as a racial issue. Penny is not charged with a hate crime.

The defense argued that Penny does not receive a fair trialand raised a number of objections, saying the prosecution was trying to paint Penny as a “white vigilante” and improperly allowed witness Johnny Grima, a homeless man convicted of hitting someone with a bat, to- call the defendant a “murderer.” “from the witness stand when he was not charged with murder.

Wiley refused this request as well, but told Penny’s team “I see what you’re getting at.”

Before jurors entered the courtroom Monday, the parties spoke with the judge who introduced additional evidence — a police report that described Neely as a man screaming, rather than screaming, when police arrived.

He did not answer when the police arrivedbut there was confusion about Dr. Harris’s testimony.

DANIEL PENNY BELIEVED HE WAS PROTECTING A DIVERSE SUBWAY CAR, BUT PROSECUTORS HIGHLIGHT RACIAL UNDERTONES

She returned to the stand for a third day on Monday. She is the 34th witness called by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Although Neely had synthetic drugs in his system that she likened to cocaine, she said she did not wait for the toxicology report to state the cause and manner of his death and was adamant that he died of asphyxiation, not cardiac arrest. He still had a pulse when Penny let him go.

No bones in the chin, neck or midline structures were affected, she said. She found scratches and bruises on his face, neck, torso and arms, petechiae (small red spots caused by bleeding) in his eyes and organ damage caused by his scything trait.

Daniel Penny and his sister Jackie Penny arrive at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, NY, Monday, November 18, 2024. . Penny, a Navy veteran, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

Prosecutors rested their case after she left the witness stand Monday afternoon. Penny’s defense began with actor Thomas Kenniff calling their first witness, Penny’s sister Jackie.

She is a year older than the defendant, she said, and discussed growing up in the suburban Long Island community of West Islip, where her brother played lacrosse and bass and was a good student.

After graduating high school, she joined the Navy, she said. She was “a little surprised,” but her “very soft-spoken” brother had always been patriotic and their family had a history of military service, she said.

She said her brother has a reputation for being an honest person, an empathetic person, a compassionate person.

Prosecutors objected and were overruled.

The sister continued that in the family, Penny has a reputation for being a calm and peaceful person – all these characteristics are his known reputation in his family, friends, school, neighborhood, she said, adding that – she has never heard any of his . friends talk negatively about him.

This undated photo provided by Mills and Edwards, LLP, in New York, Friday, May 12, 2023, shows Jordan Neely, left, with Carolyn Neely, an aunt. (Courtesy of Mills & Edwards, LLP via AP)

Harris’ testimony began Thursday after Joseph Caballerthe Marine martial arts instructor who had taught Penny about the choke, told the jury the purpose of the maneuver was to take control of a threat until they were unconscious.

Testimony is expected to conclude before Thanksgiving.

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If convicted of the primary charge of involuntary manslaughter, Penny faces up to 15 years in prison.