The Marine Corps martial arts instructor who trained Daniel Penny in chokehold techniques testified Thursday that the maneuver Penny used to subdue Jordan Neely on an uptown F train in May 2023 didn’t follow his training.
Joseph Caballer, 30, said Marines are taught to use chokeholds that cut off blood flow to the brain within 13 seconds, rendering opponents unconscious. Once that happens, he said, they’re supposed to stop applying pressure immediately. Otherwise, a chokehold could cause injury or death, Caballer said.
In separate testimony Thursday , the homicide detective who interviewed Penny just after the altercation said Penny didn’t know Neely had died.
Penny kept Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes — including for more than 50 seconds after Neely stopped moving — according to evidence presented in his criminal trial, which is underway in Manhattan. Caballer said Penny appeared to be using a variation of a technique he learned in training, but that his positioning wasn’t right and at times could have impeded either Neely’s blood flow or his breathing.