‘Jordan Neely Was Terrifying’: Penny Does Not Take the Stand as Defense Rests in Case of Slain Michael Jackson Impersonator
The defense called a witness who testified that Jordan Neely failed to appear for a court date, even though they were not allowed to tell the jury what the court date was for.
Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran on trial in the death of a Michael Jackson impersonator, Jordan Neely, on a New York subway last year, will not take the witness stand. His defense attorneys rested their case on Friday.
When reporters asked why Mr. Penny did not testify, his defense attorney Thomas Kenniff said, “This jury has heard from Mr. Penny. They heard from him before he had the opportunity to have an attorney. They heard him in the minutes and hours after this incident… He told them what happened, and he said all the same things, all the same things in essence that the credible eyewitnesses testified. That Jordan Neely was terrifying.”
The last witness the defense had called was a clerk who works at Manhattan criminal court, Brain Kempf. He testified that a warrant was issued for Neely after he failed to appear for a court date in February 2023, two months before the fatal incident on a Northbound F-train. The jury did not hear why the warrant was issued, and what Neely was charged with, because the judge – over the defense’s strenuous objections – did not allow his criminal record to be entered into evidence. After all, the prosecution argued, Mr. Penny did not know the criminal history of Neely, when he decided to grab him and place him in a chokehold for about six minutes, as prosecutors have alleged.
After Mr. Kempf spoke briefly, the defense rested its case. The prosecution called one rebuttal witness, a New York police department officer who arrived at the scene, where he found Neely on the subway floor, “unconscious” and “unresponsive”. The officer, Stephon Joefield, testified that Neely was not breathing when he found him, but he did have a pulse.
And with that, both parties had rested their cases.
Outside the courthouse, the victim’s uncle, Christopher Neely, told reporters that he was “proud of the women” who defended his nephew and prosecuted the case on behalf of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, Dofna Yoran and Jillian Shartrand. “I just so appreciate these two women,” he said.
On Monday, the defense will file a motion to dismiss the case. If the judge decides not to grant it, the jury will hear closing statements on December 2.
