NEW YORK CITY – Opening statements are expected today in the criminal trial of Daniel Penny, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran accused of placing the homeless Jordan Neely in a fatal strangulation last year in a New York City metro train.

JUMP TO ABOUT DANIEL PENNY | ABOUT JORDAN NEELY

Penny, 25, is accused of “recklessly causing the death” of Neely, a 30-year-old former street performer who witnesses say was acting erratically on the train on May 1, 2023, when Penny moved to hold it. .

Penny, who served four years in the Marine Corps before being discharged in 2021, has been free on $100,000 bail.

The trial is expected to last four to six weeks. Jurors, who were questioned about their own experiences on the subway, will hear opening statements today and possibly some witness testimony. It is unclear who will be prosecutors’ first witness.

He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder and up to four years if convicted of criminally negligent homicide.

The case arises from a May 1, 2023 altercation on the F subway train in Manhattan, where witnesses say Neely was yelling and demanding money when Penny, who said she was going from a college class to a gym, approached him.

According to prosecutors, Penny pinned Neely to the ground with the help of two other passengers and strangled him for more than three minutes. Video of the incident showed Penny trying to subdue Neely by choking him.

Daniel Penny appears in a bystander video holding Jordan Neely in a chokehold. (New York Lights/Juan Alberto Vázquez via Storyful)

Neely struggled with the chokehold for several minutes, after which he was transported to Lenox Hill Hospital and pronounced dead. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by neck compression. Penny’s lawyers have indicated they plan to challenge that finding.

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 have argued that the Long Island native did not intend to kill Neely, only 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 the synthetic cannabinoid known as K2 found in his body.

“What the jury will also know is that he (Neely) is high on K2, which is a very, very dangerous drug that historically has caused people to act violently, erratically, suicidally, whatever,” the attorney said. by Penny, Thomas Kenniff. , he said in an appearance on Good morning New York.

Meanwhile, prosecutors, in their court papers, have argued that Penny’s actions were reckless and negligent, even if she had no intention of killing Neely. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment before the trial.

“The government failed Mr. Neely,” Raiser said in GDNY. “Because he was having mental health issues on 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 sparked fierce debate and division between those who believed Penny acted heroically and others who believed she showed excessive force. Raiser has said that a conviction “will have a chilling effect on the right and duty of every New Yorker to defend one another.”

Neely had made money imitating Michael Jackson in the past, but he found himself homeless at times.

Jordan Neely is pictured before going to see the Michael Jackson 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)

Street artists who knew Neely described him as a kind and talented impressionist who sank into depression as a result of his mother’s death 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 a history of 44 prior arrests, many of them subway-related, including disorderly conduct, conduct, assault and fare evasion.

Associated Press news services contributed to this report.