Screenshot, Youtube EyeWitness News ABC 7, Cropped by Resist the Mainstream

Former Marine Daniel Penny has expressed confidence that he will be acquitted as he prepares to go on trial for manslaughter on October 8th, following an incident last May where he fatally choked the homeless Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely on the New York City subway.

The trial, as determined by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley, is expected to last four to six weeks. Penny, who appeared in court in a charcoal suit, white shirt, and maroon tie, remained silent while his attorney, Thomas Kenniff, expressed confidence in an acquittal and critiqued the decision to prosecute.

“Is he happy to be the subject or participant in his own criminal trial? Of course not,” Kenniff told the New York Post. “Having said that, he’s handling himself with dignity. He’s as confident as his attorneys are that ultimately, if this case has to go to trial, he will be fully exonerated.”

Lennon Edwards, representing the Neely family, also conveyed his faith that the justice system would exonerate his client.

“He was the dangerous one,” Edwards added, referring to Neely. “On that day, Daniel Penny was judge, jury and executioner. And we’re expecting that when this trial starts, he will be facing a judge, a jury and a sentence.”

Penny's defense previously sought dismissal, citing procedural issues and questioning the medical examiner's conclusion regarding Neely's cause of death. However, Justice Wiley found the evidence sufficient to proceed. If convicted, Penny faces up to 19 years in prison for the act, which he claims was an intervention to protect subway riders from Neely's threatening behavior.