Daniel Penny returned to a Manhattan courtroom this morning for his opening statements in his murder trial for the death of Jordan Neely, an erratic homeless man whom he strangled during an outburst on the subway.

Outside, protesters carried signs and a megaphone and criticized Penny’s actions as “illegal,” although her defense has argued that her actions were fully justified by law due to the threats Neely shouted loudly in the subway car.

Inside the courtroom, prosecutors were the first to deliver their comments, admitting that Neely “scared a lot of people” on the train where he died.

“Jordan Neely breathed his last on the dirty floor of an uptown F train; at the time of his death he was 30 years old, homeless, using synthetic drugs and suffering from mental illness,” the prosecutor began. Manhattan district deputy, Dafna Yoran.

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Daniel Penny arrives for opening arguments in his trial in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on November 1, 2024. Penny, a Navy veteran, is charged with second-degree murder and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely in 2023 on a new York City Subway. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

Video of the incident shows other passengers helping Penny restrain Neely, who later died. The trial begins after more than a week of jury selection.

Prosecutors, in a 45-minute opening statement, said Penny held the chokehold for 5 minutes and 53 seconds, calling the move “unnecessarily reckless.”

“I had no intention of killing him, but under the law, deadly physical force, such as a chokehold, is permitted only when absolutely necessary and only for as long as absolutely necessary,” the prosecution continued.

Screenshot of a bystander video showing Jordan Neely being held in a chokehold on the New York City subway. (New York Lights/Juan Alberto Vázquez via Storyful)

The defense responded that Penny was defending himself and other passengers from Neely’s threats of violence.

“This is a case about a young man who did for others what we would like someone to do for us,” co-defense attorney Thomas Kenniff’s opening statement began. “Words like ‘I’m ready to die. I’m ready to serve a life sentence,’ when these threats are uttered in the confined (space) of a moving subway car, you either bury your head and pray or you stand up and protect your neighbor.” .That’s what Danny Penny did.”

Penny grew up in a middle-class New York family and joined the Marine Corps to serve her country and also to secure the means to pay for a college education, her attorneys said.

He was studying architecture at the New York City College of Technology and working as a swimming and barback instructor at the time of his encounter with Neely, whom lawyers described as “a seething psychotic” who was “high” when he approached the ship. subway car and started screaming.

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. Daniel Penny, 24, a U.S. Navy veteran who used a fatal chokehold on agitated New York City subway passenger Jordan Neely, was released from custody hours after turning himself in to face a charge of involuntary manslaughter filed nearly two weeks after the encounter. (Courtesy of Mills & Edwards, LLP via AP)

“As the doors close and the train heads into the dark tunnel, Neely slams his jacket on the floor with such force that the train goes silent,” Penny’s defense continued. “He demands drinks, food and money. He tells passengers that if they don’t give him what he wants, he will take it away.”

He raised his voice, ranting about returning to the Rikers Island jail, receiving a life sentence and being ready to die, the defense continued.

“Passengers begin to pile toward the other end of the subway car, Neely fixes his gaze on a group of female passengers, (and) at that moment Danny sees a mother barricading her son behind a baby stroller,” the men said. lawyers. “Neely utters the words ‘I will kill’ and, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, when Jordan Neely threatened to kill, there was only one thing Danny Penny could do.”

Protesters, including Jordan Neely’s uncle Christopher Neely, gather calling for justice for Jordan Neely outside the trial of Daniel Penny at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on Friday, November 1, 2024. Today is the first day from opening statements in Penny’s trial, where he is charged with second-degree murder and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

After Neely announced the threat, there was no time to “deescalate the situation,” they said. Penny acted defensively to take down the madman.

“Danny’s intention was not to kill Mr. Neely; in fact, he didn’t want to hurt him at all,” the defense continued. “The evidence will show that Danny made every conscious effort to avoid harm.”

Penny used what the defense described as a “non-fatal chokehold” that he had been trained to use.

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“His purpose in using the hold was to hold him until the police arrived, something that took longer than anyone on the train would have expected,” the lawyer said.

Penny remained at the scene until the police arrived. Neely was still breathing when he released him.

After opening statements, the first witness took the stand, a NYPD officer who responded to the scene. Neely’s relatives, sitting in the back of the courtroom, became emotional during the questioning.

Neely did not have a weapon when officers arrived. They only found a muffin in his jacket pocket. Neely had a pulse but was not breathing, and officers administered the opioid antidote Narcan, but it did not revive him.

There were women and children on the train and Penny told detectives she sensed a threat, according to testimony from pretrial hearings.

Daniel Penny arrives for opening arguments in his trial at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on November 1, 2024. Penny, a Navy veteran, is charged with second-degree murder and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely in 2023 on a new York City Subway. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

When Neely came toward him, he said, he strangled him.

“I’m not trying to kill the guy,” he told detectives. “I’m just trying to calm the situation down.”

Protesters, including Jordan Neely’s uncle Christopher Neely, gather calling for justice for Jordan Neely outside the trial of Daniel Penny at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on Friday, November 1, 2024. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

A second witness, NYPD Sgt. Yoran asked Carl Johnson why officers chose to use Narcan on Neely.

“Mr. Neely was lying on the floor of the subway car, completely unconscious,” he said.

“Apparently he was a drug user and very dirty,” Johnson testified. “I didn’t want my officers to put their lips in his mouth. They could get hepatitis or AIDS… chest compressions It would be enough to wake him up.”

THE DANIEL PENNY TRIAL BEGINS IN NYC!: GUTFELD

During cross-examination, Johnson was asked why the officers did not use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

“There’s a certain line where you have to protect your officer. Look at 9/11. I wouldn’t want one of my officers to get sick from this,” Johnson said.

Protesters gather calling for justice for Jordan Neely outside the trial of Daniel Penny at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on Friday, November 1, 2024. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

NYPD Officer Dennis Kang was the third witness during Friday’s trial, and the jury was shown his body camera footage of the incident.

“My man! Stay with me… me!” Kang was heard telling Neely on the body camera footage.

Kang said that when officers first responded to the scene, Neely was lying face down on the floor before they “turned him stomach up and tried to wake him up.”

Body camera footage from the third witness captured Penny telling Kang that Neely was “spouting a bunch of shit and said I’m going to prison forever.”

Daniel Penny arrives for opening arguments in his trial at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on November 1, 2024. Penny, a Navy veteran, is charged with second-degree murder and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely in 2023 on a new York City Subway. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

The first day of the trial ended around 4:24 p.m. Friday after two MTA witnesses were called to talk about the transit authority’s workflow.

With a total of five witnesses during the first day of the trial, maintenance supervisor Michael Ramjattan and train dispatch employee Cecil Postell were the last people called to the stand.

Penny is a 25-year-old Marine Corps veteran and college student.

Neely was a 30-year-old homeless man and former Michael Jackson impersonator with a history of mental illness and criminality, including a previous charge of assaulting a 67-year-old person. new york city woman in 2021.

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Penny faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted.

The trial is scheduled to begin again on Monday, November 4 at 10 am.