Daniel Penny prosecutors want to press Jordan Neely drug abuse, pysche record

NEW YORK – Defense attorneys for Marine veteran Daniel Penny, who is on trial in New York City in the death of Jordan Neely, want to call a forensic psychiatrist to explain how the effects of substance abuse and mental health problems occurred. may have contributed to “the level of hostility Mr. Neely displayed.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office does not want the jury to see that testimony or expert testimony from Dr. Alexander Bardey.

On Tuesday, the court session started when the lawyers of both sides met with the judge.

“The psychiatrist’s testimony and unaltered psychiatric records are inadmissible and their suggested introduction is a clear attempt by the defense to smear the victim’s character so that the jury will discount his life,” prosecutor Dafna Yoran said in court papers.

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He didn’t want jurors to hear about Neely’s past, saying the information was “inadmissible.”

“It is black book law in New York that a decedent’s past misdeeds are admissible at trial if they were known to the defendant at the time of the trial,” he wrote.

Advocates argue that drug use is exempt from the law because even if someone doesn’t know about it in advance, the consequences are obvious.

But the defense countered that due to the lack of specific information about the amount of synthetic marijuana found in Neely’s system in his toxicology report, Dr. Bardey is a necessity.

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Jordan Neely was photographed before going to see the Michael Jackson movie, “This is It,” outside Regal Cinemas on 8th Ave. and 42nd St. in Times Square, New York, in 2009. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“Limited toxicology, and mixed eyewitness accounts, create an incomplete narrative,” Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, wrote in a court filing. “The defense is entitled to information contained in Mr. Neely’s psychiatric records that show his increased use of K2, as well as his frequent physical behaviors while on K2.

“Expert testimony in this regard tends to support two key facts: Mr. Neely was using K2 at the time of the incident, not just days or weeks ago, and he exhibited the behavior of someone who was high on K2.”

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A screenshot from a bystander’s video showing Jordan Neely being locked up on the subway in New York City. (Luces de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez via Storyful)

Penny, 26, faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of capital murder. He also faces a lesser charge of reckless homicide in the death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness, substance abuse and criminal behavior, some of which occurred on a train.

Defense lawyers were expected to call Dr. Bardey on the stand Tuesday, along with character witnesses who served in the Marine Corps and Penny, who enlisted after high school and was studying construction when she met Neely last May.

Neely jumped on the train, threw his jacket on the ground and started screaming death threats, telling the straphangers that he didn’t care if he got life in prison.

During the ordeal, Penny took him into custody and wrestled him to the ground as witnesses called 911. Another passenger helped Penny restrain her until the police arrived.

When they released Neely, she was still breathing, but the medical examiner, Dr. Cynthia Harris, stated that it is normal for a person’s heart to keep beating for a long time even if they have been strangled to death.

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In his autopsy, he determined that Neely’s death was caused by inhalation as a result of strangulation.

Penny’s team is adamant that Neely’s death was justified. Prosecutors say it was not intentional but a reckless or reckless crime.