Jordan Neely still had a pulse after Daniel Penny released him from chokehold: body cam footage

Opening arguments began on Friday morning in the case of Daniel Penny, a former Marine accused of manslaughter in the death of homeless man Jordan Neely on an uptown F train in Manhattan in 2023. Video from Neely's final moments was shown in court and it revealed that by the time NYPD officers arrived, Neely still had a pulse. 

Neely was allegedly threatening passengers on the subway when Penny and a few other men sought to restrain him and protect the other passengers. Penny put Neely in a chokehold and held him restrained as the subway came into the station. Two officers were called to the scene, arriving at 2:33 pm, and the video shows that they found a pulse.

"I got a pulse," an officer said. The second officer confirmed that finding. Neely was unconscious on the floor of the subway car. The officers who testified at the trial on Friday said that because Neely was a drug user, neither he nor anyone on his team provided mouth-to-mouth. They told the court that they did not want to get hepatitis, per The Daily Mail.

"I put him out," Penny said when asked by police how Neely ended up on the floor. Officers then gave Narcan to Neely and at 2:38 pm began CPR. Paramedics arrived at the scene at 2:48. At 3:13 pm, Neely was still on the train being tended to by paramedics from Northwell Health. 

That is the end of the video. Neely was pronounced dead at Lenox Hospital. The prosecution told the court that the entire length of time, from when Neely arrived on the train car, to when he was restrained, to when the doors opened at the next station, was just 30 seconds. They claimed that Penny kept Neely restrained for another nearly 6 minutes.

Penny's attorney Thomas Kenniff said that Penny was not "squeezing his neck" for the entire time because that would have resulted in Neely passing out within the first minute. Penny, he said, only intended to hold Neely until officers arrived, which "took way longer than expected," Kenniff said. It was 7 minutes between when officers were called to when they arrived.

Officers further testified as to Neely's condition, saying that "he was filthy" and that they had to protect the officers. "I wouldn't want my officer to get sick if the person throws up," said an officer. 

The trial is anticipated to last six weeks. An ADA with Alvin Bragg's office said it could be hard to convict since Penny intended no harm to come to Neely.