Daniel Penny’s former martial arts instructor takes stand in chokehold case

Prosecutors called a Marine veteran who gave Daniel Penny martial arts instruction to the stand on Thursday.

Penny, a 26-year-old former Marine, is facing charges of second-degree manslaughter and negligent homicide. He is accused of fatally choking 30-year-old Jordan Neely on a New York City subway in 2023. Neely, a well-known Michael Jackson impersonator, boarded the subway and reportedly began threatening people. Penny allegedly approached him from behind and placed him in a chokehold.

Neely was later pronounced dead at a hospital. His death was ruled a homicide by compression of the neck.

Joseph Cavaller, a former Marine sergeant, explained the different types of chokeholds. A “blood choke” places pressure on the carotid artery in order to knock the person out. He said this type of choke is never held more than five seconds in training. An “air choke” puts pressure on the Adam’s apple.

After prosecutors showed Cavaller a photo of Penny performing the restraint on Neely, he said it appeared to be an attempted figure-four blood choke. Cavaller also said Penny’s arm “could be” placing pressure on Neely’s trachea instead.

During cross-examination by the defense, Cavaller agreed that an individual could survive a chokehold for more than 13 seconds without losing consciousness if pressure was not being applied. He also said that while Marines are told not to hold a choke for more than five seconds, it does not apply to the real world.

The defense asked Cavaller if Penny ever appears to apply a full-powered blood choke while showing him images from eyewitness video.

“Not from what I can see,” Cavaller replied.

He said it would be up to Penny to determine whether to release the hold before he was fully convinced that Neely was no longer a threat.

“If you release the hold too soon, there could be struggling, fighting,” he said.

Prosecutors asked additional questions after cross-examination concluded. Cavaller clarified that Penny may not have been performing a blood choke.

“Based off just the assumption that he was applying pressure, yeah it could have been some kind of air choke,” Cavaller said.

He said the Marines typically do not teach air chokes.

“The training we teach can be modified based on the situation that they’re facing,” he said.

Witness testimony entered its sixth day on Thursday. Prosecutors have called over 30 witnesses to the stand so far.

Penny faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted.

Use-of-Force Experts Weigh In

Jamie Borden, a police veteran and expert witness in cases involving use of force, previously spoke to Newsweek about the science behind chokeholds. He said law enforcement uses a lateral vascular neck restraint (LVNR), which places pressure on the carotid artery.

“The crook of the arm cradles the airway, does not collapse the airway, but the pressure is on the right and left carotid artery,” Borden said. “That’s called the lateral vascular neck restraint. That causes, again, a momentary outage in consciousness and the officers are able to safely detain or control a subject otherwise out of control.”

Dr. John R. Black, a retired police lieutenant and expert witness in cases involving high-stress decision making and lethal force, explained another type of chokehold to Newsweek.

“In contrast, we also use the word chokehold for the shutting down of the airway,” Black said. “Usually, it would normally also occur with some sort of potential damage.”

Borden said the different types of restraints can look similar on video. He said public response to fatal incidents has led to police departments banning LVNRs.

“No matter what the circumstances, the appearances cause an emotional, conductive belief that the chokehold is what caused the death,” Borden said.

Restraints like the LVNR are still taught and typically non-lethal, Black said.

“Chokeholds, as whatever they’re called, whether it’s to shut down the blood flow or anything else, is still used consistently in anything from military to competitions, taught to six-year-olds in judo. It’s not, on its face value, this technique that’s designed to always produce death, but sometimes it does,” Black said.

He also explained why these maneuvers are often safe to perform in these scenarios.

“The Marines already know, the guys doing judo already know if they tap, the other person’s going to release them,” Black said. “If they’re in competition, both of them are physically fit. They know what a choke feels like. They don’t panic when they get choked. In fact, they try to figure out how to get out of it, how to defeat the choke. They’re taught how to defeat it. That’s a completely different mindset, right? But what was Jordan’s mindset? We don’t know.”

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