Opening statements start friday At the trial of Daniel Penny, accused of Jordan Neely’s death, a homeless man The individual who acted recklessly by subjecting himself to fatal asphyxiation in a New York City subway car on May 1, 2023.

hearing expected to last four to six weeksAccording to Judge Max Wiley.

Penny, a former sailor, He did not admit his guilt Second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges in Neely’s death. Wiley rejected Penny’s motion to dismiss the manslaughter case in January.

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

To convict, prosecutors must prove that Penny’s use of deadly force was unjustified and that Penny acted recklessly and consciously disregarded the risk of putting Neely in danger of suffocation for so long. Prosecutors do not have to prove that Penny intended to kill Neely; Defense attorneys said Neely did not intend to do this.

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 vary regarding the events leading up to Penny’s fatal choking act, according to various sources.

Multiple witnesses reported that Neely, 30, who was homeless at the time of his death and was known to impersonate Michael Jackson, testified that he was homeless, hungry and thirsty, according to prosecutors. Many of the witnesses also described Neely stating that he was willing to go to jail or prison.

Some Witnesses also reported According to police sources, Nely threatened to hurt people on the train, while others did not report hearing these threats.

Some witnesses also told police that Neely was yelling and harassing passengers on the train. But others said that although Neely exhibited erratic behavior, he did not threaten anyone in particular and did not resort to violence, police sources told ABC News after the incident.

According to prosecutor’s court records, some passengers on the train that day said they did not feel threatened. One said they “weren’t really worried about what’s going on,” while another said it was “like a regular day in New York. I’m used to seeing that too. I wasn’t really looking at it if I was going to.” “Being threatened or something like that, but it was a little different because, you know, you don’t really hear anyone say anything like that.”

But other passengers expressed fear, according to court records. One said they had “encountered a lot of things, but nothing that gave me this much fear,” while another said Neely made “half lunge moves” and came “within half a meter of people.”

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

Less than 30 seconds after Penny allegedly strangled Neely, the train arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette Station, according to court records.

“The passengers, frightened because they were trapped on the train, were now free to exit the train. The defendant continued to hold Mr. Neely by the neck,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said in a court filing objecting to Penny’s dismissal request.

Footage of the interaction, which began about two minutes after the incident began, shows Penny holding Neely in a choke hold for about four minutes and 57 seconds on a relatively empty train with few passengers nearby, according to prosecutors.

About three minutes and 10 seconds into the video, Neely stopped all intentional movements, prosecutors said.

“From that moment on, Mr. Neely’s movements can best be described as ‘twitching and agonal movements of the kind you see around death,'” prosecutors said.

The lawsuit is expected to include testimonies from passengers who were on the subway at the time, as well as a nearly six-minute video of the drowning incident.

Jury will see evidence Neely didn’t have a gun

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

Penny’s defense had asked to suppress evidence or testimony regarding the lack of a gun found during the search of Neely’s body, but in a written opinion issued Thursday, the judge said such evidence and testimony were relevant to the case.

“The fact that Mr. Neely was unarmed provides additional information that will be helpful to the jury, clarifying what someone in the defendant’s position might perceive,” the judge wrote. “It is reasonable for a person in the defendant’s position to mistakenly believe that it was appropriate for a jury to consider that Mr. Neely was armed and that it was within their ability.”

The defense was concerned that adding evidence that Neely was unarmed would increase sympathy for the victim, but the judge said it would help the jury decide whether Penny’s actions were justified.

Penny’s lawyers and Neely’s family speak ahead of trial

Prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office are expected to acknowledge that Neely may have appeared intimidating to some subway riders, but they will argue that Penny continued to choke to the point that Neely stopped moving and posed no threat.

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

While Penny’s defense argued that she had no intention of killing Neely, prosecutor Steinglass noted that the second-degree manslaughter charge only requires prosecutors to prove that Penny acted recklessly and not intentionally.

“We are confident that a jury that recognizes that Danny put his own safety aside to protect the lives of other motorists will return a fair verdict,” Penny’s attorneys, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, said after Penny’s death earlier this year. The request to drop the charge was denied.

“This case is simple. Someone got on the train and was screaming, so someone else strangled them to death,” Neely family attorney Donte Mills told ABC News. “Those two things are never and will never be balanced. There is no justification.”

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