Daniel Penny chokehold did NOT cause Jordan Neely to die, defense expert testifies

A forensic pathologist from Texas, called by Daniel Penny’s defense team, testified on Thursday that Penny’s chokehold on Jordan Neely was not the sole cause of his death, contradicting statements from the medical examiner of Manhattan.

Penny’s attorney Steven Raiser asked Dr. Satish Chundru point-blank if the chokehold was the cause of Neely’s death, to which Chundru said no, the New York Post reported. Chundru said he ruled out the air choke and the blood choke because there were other contributing factors to Neely’s death.

Harris originally listed Neely’s cause of death as ‘inconclusive.’

Chundru pointed to other details listed in Neely’s medical records, such as the bruising on Neely’s neck and the “almost negligible” tiny spots of bleeding found on his eyelids, which Chundru claimed were not consistent with a fatal chokehold.

Chundru said Neely died from “the combined effects of sickle-cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana,” noting that schizophrenia results in an “increased risk of sudden cardiac death.” Penny put Neely in the chokehold after Neely made death threats, saying he did not care if he went to jail, which frightened many of the passengers.

The synthetic marijuana, K2, that Neely used prior to making death threats on the subway car last year has been the sole cause of death in other cases he has seen, Chundru further noted.

Dr. Cynthia Harris, who performed Neely’s autopsy, previously told jurors she did not wait for the toxicology report to declare his cause and manner of death to be asphyxiation, not cardiac arrest. She said she was so convinced that Penny killed Neely that she would stand by her conclusion even if Neely had enough drugs in his system “to put down an elephant.”

Harris originally listed Neely’s cause of death as “inconclusive” but changed the cause after watching the video, deciding Neely’s death was caused by “asphyxia” since, in her opinion, the video showed Neely being choked and “dying” from Penny’s hold on him.

“After watching it, I had no further questions about how he was dead,” Harris testified, because “there are no alternative reasonable explanations.”

Penny was charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. If convicted, Penny could receive 15 years in prison.

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