Daniel Penny, accused of suffocating to death a distraught black subway passenger, arrives for his opening statements in New York, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Kena Betancur/AP)

NEW YORK – Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree on this about Navy veteran Daniel Penny’s encounter last year with a distraught, angry man making sinister comments on the New York subway: Penny had no intention of killing him. .

But a prosecutor told jurors Friday that Penny “went too far” in trying to neutralize someone she considered a threat and not a person. A defense attorney responded that Penny showed “courage” and put the well-being of others before her own when she strangled Jordan Neely that ended with Neely limp on the ground.

Both sides gave opening statements Friday in a manslaughter trial that has shaken fault lines around race, homelessness, perceptions of public safety and bystander responsibility.

Penny’s critics see him as a white vigilante who murders a black man who was behaving erratically and making horrific statements, but who was unarmed and had not assaulted or touched anyone in the subway car. His supporters credit Penny, 25, with taking steps to protect frightened motorcyclists, actions he said were intended to calm, not kill.

Prosecutor Dafna Yoran told the anonymous jury that the trial is not “a referendum on our society’s failure to address mental illness and subway homelessness” or on the police response. It’s also not about whether Penny had the right to intervene or her decision to try to strangle him, he said.

Rather, he said, “He used too much force for too long. “It went too far.”

She said he showed “indifference” toward Neely and “failed to recognize her humanity.”

Not so, said defense attorney Thomas Kenniff. He told the jury that Penny applied only enough force to restrain a “seething, psychotic” man who had lunged at a woman with a small child and declared: “I will kill her.”

“In that moment, Danny could look away and pray, or he could muster the courage to put the safety of his neighbors before his own, to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves,” and he did the latter, he said. Kenniff.

“That doesn’t make him a hero. But that doesn’t make him a murderer.”

Jurors, who were questioned earlier about their experiences on the subway, later watched police body camera video of the officers performing some life-saving techniques on Neely after Penny calmly explained that she had done so. “off,” describing Neely as a “crack addict” who was “going crazy.” “

The case has been absorbed into troubled US politics, with Republican officials defending Penny and Democratic officials attending Neely’s funeral. Both Penny’s supporters and critics have held rallies; Penny arrived at the courthouse Friday to critical chants from a small group of protesters.

Once in court, Penny sat upright in his seat at the defense table, looking mostly forward. A member of Neely’s family who was in the audience sometimes sobbed with tears.

“We know who the victim is in this case and we know who the villain is,” family attorney Donte Mills said outside court.

Neely’s life was shattered by mental illness and drug use after his mother was murdered and stuffed into a suitcase when he was a teenager, his family said. In his 30s, he sometimes entertained subway passengers as a Michael Jackson impersonator, but he also had a criminal record that included assaulting a woman in a subway station.

Penny, an architecture student who served four years in the Marine Corps, was walking from class to the gym when she ran into Neely on the subway on May 1, 2023.

Neely demanded money, shouted that he was ready to die or go to jail, and made sudden movements, according to witnesses. Yoran said Neely talked about hurting people.

Penny put her arm around the man’s neck, brought him to the ground, and held Neely there, with Penny’s legs wrapped around him.

While bystanders videotaped part of the encounter, Penny held Neely down for about six minutes, Yoran said. The hold continued when the train stopped at a station, all but two passengers got off, those two helped restrain Neely and another warned Penny to let Neely go or she would die, according to Yoran’s statement and court documents.

Kenniff said Penny pleaded with her fellow passengers to call the police and continued to hold onto Neely because the man periodically became agitated or tried to get up.

Penny finally released Neely nearly a minute after his body weakened, prosecutors said. She waited for the police, but Yoran noted that despite being trained in first aid, Penny did not check Neely’s breathing or pulse or attempt to resuscitate him.

Officers arrived about seven minutes after 911 calls started coming in, their descriptions ranging from harassment to a man with a gun.

For about four minutes, officers spoke with Penny, searched Neely (they found nothing but a muffin in his pockets) and determined that he had a weak pulse but was not breathing. They then performed chest compressions and administered an overdose-reversing drug, but did not attempt mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

When asked why, Sgt. Carl Johnson testified Friday that Neely was “very dirty” and the sergeant feared the man might have an illness or wake up and vomit.

“The motto is ‘serve and protect’, right?” Kenniff said. He asked if Johnson would have ordered rescue breaths if the officers had a protective mask.

“No,” Johnson responded, adding, “There’s a certain line where you have to protect your officers.”

Neely’s pulse soon faded.

Penny told police she simply wanted to “de-escalate” the tense situation and was not trying to hurt Neely but rather “prevent him from hurting anyone else.”

City medical examiners determined that Neely died from neck compression. Penny’s lawyers dispute that finding.

Associated Press writers Joseph Frederick and David R. Martin contributed.