Asphyxiation, Choking, and Suffocation

Subterms

    Latest story

    163 Shares169 Views

    Daniel Penny’s Defense Shifts Focus From Choke to Sickle Cell and Drug Use

    by

    Lawyers for Daniel Penny, who is accused of choking Jordan Neely to death, called an expert who argued that a combination of factors led to Mr. Neely’s death.Jordan Neely, a Black man who died after he was choked in a subway car last year, had the sickle cell trait, a genetic condition that can affect blood cells and overwhelmingly occurs in Black people. Whether Mr. Neely knew that he had the trait is unclear. But since his death, it has become a point of contention for lawyers.Prosecutors have said that Daniel Penny, who is on trial for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide because he put Mr. Neely in a chokehold, restrained Mr. Neely for about six minutes, cutting off his airway. When Mr. Neely tried to break free, the pressure of Mr. Penny’s chokehold increased, prosecutors said.But Mr. Penny’s lawyers have centered their case on convincing the jurors that Mr. Neely’s death was not caused by the chokehold and that it is impossible to know how much pressure Mr. Penny was exerting. Before they rested their case on Friday, the defense argued that Mr. Neely’s schizophrenia, synthetic marijuana use and misshapen blood cells led to his death. People with the sickle cell trait typically do not have many, if any, sickle-shaped cells or experience symptoms, but blood slides from Mr. Neely’s autopsy shared at the trial showed misshapen cells at the time of his death.Now that both the defense and the prosecution have made their cases, each side will present closing arguments to the 12 jurors and four alternates. The judge presiding over the case, Maxwell Wiley, has decided that closing arguments will not happen until after Thanksgiving.Here is what to know about the defense’s case for Mr. Penny.The Role of Sickle Cell TraitThe medical examiner, Dr. Cynthia Harris, determined that Mr. Neely died from “compression of the neck,” and held firm to her findings through three days of testimony. However, an expert Mr. Penny’s legal team called to testify, Dr. Satish Chundru, rebutted that.Dr. Chundru, a forensic pathologist, said Mr. Neely died from “combined effects.”“Sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint and the synthetic marijuana,” he listed for jurors. He argued that Mr. Penny had struggled with Mr. Neely but had not choked him to death.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    More stories

    • 175 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      A Jury Is Set for the Trial of Daniel Penny, Accused in Subway Killing

      by

      Lawyers selected 12 Manhattanites and four alternates to hear a manslaughter case that divided the city. Opening statements will be Friday.A jury of 12 Manhattanites has been chosen to decide the fate of Daniel Penny, a Long Island man who put a homeless man in a fatal chokehold on a subway car last year.Mr. Penny, 26, faces charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 2023 death of Jordan Neely, who had a history of mental illness and who Mr. Penny said had been threatening passengers.The jurors and four alternates, who Justice Maxwell T. Wiley ruled would be kept anonymous, include a cross section of residents from across the borough, including Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Washington Heights and Harlem.On Friday, those jurors will hear the lawyers explain in opening arguments their conceptions of a case that divided New York City as soon as a video of Mr. Penny, who is white, restraining Mr. Neely, who was Black, rocketed around the internet. Some New Yorkers saw Mr. Penny’s actions on the F train as criminal. Others saw him as a champion for frightened riders.Jury selection, which began last week, was contentious. Screening more than 100 prospective jurors, the first step in a criminal trial, took nearly two weeks and at times set off arguments between the lawyers.The defense, led by Mr. Penny’s lawyer Thomas A. Kenniff, hired a jury consultant who has worked with a wide spectrum of defendants, including the president of Brazil, Kyle Rittenhouse and O.J. Simpson. The consultant, Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, was in court with Mr. Penny’s legal team throughout the two weeks, taking notes and making suggestions.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      4 Hotel Workers Charged with Murder of D’vontaye Mitchell

      by

      Four workers who pinned down D’vontaye Mitchell, 43, outside a Milwaukee Hyatt hotel in June were charged with murder. His family said he had been having a mental health crisis.Four hotel workers were charged Tuesday with murder in the death of D’vontaye Mitchell, a Black man who died outside a Milwaukee hotel after being subdued by staff members in a scene that was recorded on video and caused a public outcry.Mr. Mitchell’s family says he was having a mental health crisis when hotel staff members tried to subdue him after he ran through the lobby and into the women’s restroom. An autopsy showed that asphyxiation, cocaine and methamphetamine had contributed to his death.The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office announced the charge of felony murder against four people: Todd Alan Erickson, 60; Brandon Ladaniel Turner, 35; Devin W. Johnson-Carson, 23; and Herbert T. Williamson, 52. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and nine months.Prosecutors said arrest warrants had been issued for the men, though it was unclear if they had been arrested by late Tuesday.Mr. Erickson and Mr. Turner worked as security guards at the Hyatt Hotel in Milwaukee, prosecutors said. Mr. Williamson worked as a bell attendant, and Mr. Johnson-Carson worked at the front desk. All four were fired after Mr. Mitchell’s death.The charges filed in court Tuesday came after an autopsy report released on Friday ruled the death a homicide and found that Mr. Mitchell, 43, had died from a combination of “restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine” as he was held down by hotel workers in a prone position on June 30. The report also noted that Mr. Mitchell had been obese and had hypertensive cardiovascular disease.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More