NYC medical examiner says Daniel Penny at fault for Jordan Neely’s death even with drugs in his system

The medical examiner of Manhattan testified last week she was certain Daniel Penny was the sole cause of Jordan Neely’s death after watching video of the incident, even though Neely had drugs in his system.

Dr. Cynthia Harris, who performed his autopsy, told jurors she did not wait for the toxicology report to declare his cause and manner of death being asphyxiation, not cardiac arrest, the New York Post reported. Harris said she would stand by that ruling even if Neely had enough drugs in his system “to put down an elephant.”

‘I wasn’t trying to kill the guy. I was just trying to de-escalate the situation.’

Harris had originally listed Neely’s cause of death as being “inconclusive.” She said she changed the cause after watching the video, deciding Neely’s death was caused by “asphyxia” since the video showed Neely being choked and “dying” while Penny’s arm was wrapped around his neck.

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

The toxicology report confirmed Neely had used the synthetic marijuana drug K2 prior to making threats on a NYC subway car in May 2023. Prosecutors have told the jury that while it was understandable for Penny to restrain Neely at first, he went too far by not letting him go after passengers left the car.

“I wasn’t trying to kill the guy. I was just trying to de-escalate the situation,” Penny said in a videotaped interrogation that was shown to jurors.

The controversy around the incident and Alvin Bragg’s office deciding to pursue charges resulted in Eric Gonzalez, who helped Penny restrain Neely, testifying that he lied when he was initially interviewed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as a suspect in Neely’s death. Gonzalez said he lied out of fear of being “pinned for” Neely’s death, telling the DA’s office he arrived on the scene earlier than he actually did and claiming that Neely had hit him. Neely was not accused of making physical contact with anyone prior to Penny restraining him.

Penny’s defense is expected to call its own witnesses this week with the prosecution wrapping up a long list of witnesses.

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