New footage from police body worn cameras was released in the trial of Daniel Penny in the fatal subway chokehold case.

Jurors heard Alethea Gittings, who was on the train with Neely and Penny, describing what happened on that F train in May 2023.


What You Need To Know

  • Daniel Penny's defense played police body worn camera footage of witnesses at the scene

  • One witness on a body-worn camera said Neely had "scared the living daylights out of everybody"

  • Defense said the prosecution's witnesses are making its case for Penny

"He just held him, he didn't choke him," Gittings said of Penny.

Another witness standing by her side said Penny "did take him down, like, very respectfully, just like held him down."

Gittings said when Neely came into the train, "he was unbelievably off the charts. He scared the living daylights out of everybody."

The defense played these videos in court, while Gittings was on the stand.

Gittings and other witnesses testified about the way Neely's actions scared them and how he was more frightening compared to other people they've seen having outbursts on the subway.

"How many witnesses have we heard from over the last 48 hours say, 'Look, I'm a lifetime subway rider, I've seen everything, As New Yorkers, we've all seen everything. I've never seen anything like this. Nothing ever frightened me as much as Jordan Neely frightened me that day,'" Kenniff said outside of court.

Penny's attorney said these witnesses for the prosecution were making the defense case for him.

"As this testimony is coming out of the prosecution's case, there's actually very little for the defense to do," Kenniff said.

Rev. Ronald McHenry of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network said outside court that the case won't be made on witness testimony but on Penny's actions.

"He choked out the life of a man and we're sitting here debating why he did it," McHenry said. "That's what this case is about."

Prosecutors used the witness' testimony to establish that Neely never directly targeted a rider, hit anyone or brandishd a weapon.

But on the stand, witness Lori Sitro said she had to shield her 5-year-old son with a stroller as Neely lunged at people within a foot of their faces.

Another witness, Dan Couvreur, said Neely had his hands balled into fists. Couvreur testified that he quickly moved away from Neely as he slammed his jacket to the ground.

Gittings, meanwhile, testified that Neely was "very loud, very menacing, very disturbing."

She also testified that she approached Penny on the platform to thank him for intervening.

That's when she said Penny asked her to give a statement to the police.