Manhattan judge denies request to dismiss subway chokehold case against Daniel Penny

A Manhattan judge on Wednesday denied a request to dismiss criminal charges against the Marine Corps veteran accused of choking a Black homeless man to death on an uptown F train last year.

Judge Maxwell Wiley’s decision came in response to a request from defendant Daniel Penny’s attorneys to quash the criminal case against him. Penny's attorneys Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff said they disagreed with the ruling.

“We are confident that a jury, aware of Danny’s actions in putting aside his own safety to protect the lives of his fellow riders, will deliver a just verdict,” they said in a statement.

Penny, 25, faces second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges in the killing of Jordan Neely, 30, who Penny has said was yelling on the train. In June, Penny pleaded not guilty to both counts and was released on bail.

Donte Mills, an attorney representing Neely’s family, called the judge’s ruling a “big win” as he stood beside Neely’s father on the snowy sidewalk outside the Manhattan criminal courthouse.

Read the full story on Gothamist.com.