NEW YORK (AP) � When Daniel Penny wrapped his arm around the neck of a
homeless man on a Manhattan subway last year, the 25-year-old veteran
appeared to be deploying a non-lethal chokehold long drilled into U.S.
Marines.

Done right, the maneuver should knock a person out without killing
them, according to Joseph Caballer, a combat instructor in the Marine
Corps who trained Penny in several types of holds. But held too long,
the technique can restrict the flow of blood to a person�s brain,
ending their life in a matter of minutes.

�Once the person is rendered unconscious, that�s when you�re supposed
to let go,� Caballer told a jury on Thursday.

His testimony came weeks into the trial of Penny, who faces charges of
manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after placing Jordan
Neely, a homeless man and Michael Jackson impersonator, in the fatal
chokehold last May.

Prosecutors allege that Penny �went way too far� in his attempt to
restrain Neely, showing an �indifference� toward his life even after he
had lost consciousness and stopped fighting back.

Penny, an architecture student who served four years in the U.S.
Marines, told police he was seeking to protect himself and other riders
from a man who was acting erratically on the train and frightening
riders with distressing comments. His attorneys have emphasized Neely�s
previous arrests, along with his struggles with mental illness and drug
use.

Bystander video of the encounter shows Penny with his bicep pressed
across Neely�s neck and his other arm on top of his head, a position he
held for close to six minutes, even after the man went limp.

The technique � an apparent �blood choke� � can make a person feel like
�trying to breathe through a crushed straw,� Caballer said. In his own
training sessions, Caballer recalled telling his fellow Marines: �You
don�t want to keep holding on. This can result in actual injury or
death.�

Asked by prosecutors whether Penny has used the chokehold in an
�improper� manner, Caballer said that he had.

Attorneys for Penny argue their client had sought to restrain Neely by
placing him in a headlock, but that he did not apply strong force
throughout the interaction. They have raised doubt about the city
medical examiner�s finding that Neely died from the chokehold, pointing
to his health problems and drug use as possible factors.

Pressed by Penny�s attorney, Caballer acknowledged that he could not
�definitively tell from watching the video how much pressure is
actually being applied.� But at times, he said, it appeared that Penny
was using a hold that may have cut off the flow of blood to Neely�s
brain.

�He could possibly be cutting off maybe one of the carotid arteries,�
the witness added.

Later in the afternoon, Dr. Cynthia Harris, the city medical examiner
who inspected Neely�s body, reiterated her finding that he had died
from a lack of oxygen caused by the chokehold. Though she did not
describe the exact process of asphyxiation, she testified that
�blocking both arteries in both veins, could kill a person in a matter
of seconds.�

Jurors were also shown video for the first time Thursday of Penny
demonstrating the chokehold to detectives during an interview inside
the precinct.

�He had his back turned to me and I got him in a hold, got him to the
ground, and he�s still squirming around and going crazy,� Penny said,
adding: �He gets a burst of energy at one point and I did have to hold
him a little more steady.�

Harris is expected to be the final witnesses called by prosecutors in a
trial that has divided New Yorkers and cast a national spotlight on the
city�s response to crime and disorder in its transit system. It�s
unclear whether Penny will take the stand.

In the eighteen months since the killing, Penny has been embraced by
conservatives as a good Samaritan who used his military training to
protect his fellow riders. U.S. Rep. U.S. Matt Gaetz, who President-
elect Donald Trump nominated this week as his attorney general,
described him as a �Subway Superman.�

But the trial has also drawn near daily protests from Black Lives
Matter activists, who�ve labeled Penny a racist vigilante who
overreacted to a Black man in the throes of a mental health episode.

Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted.

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