(Maire Clayton, Headline USA) A European couple is refusing to corporate after capturing the fatal chokehold Marine veteran Daniel Penny used to subdue Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was reportedly exhibiting erratic behavior on the New York City subway.
According to a transcript obtained by the New York Post, Justice Maxwell Wiley of New York’s state Supreme Court, stated in a closed Monday meeting that the tourists have rejected the prosecution’s attempts to obtain the video showing the incident.
Wiley added the foreigners have also declined to return to New York for the upcoming trial and “have gone back to their home, which apparently is in Europe someplace.”
The judge stated the couple had attended virtual meetings with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, but that those efforts were fruitless.
Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, said he believes the video captured by the couple could be “incredibly favorable” to his plaintiff’s case.
Kenniff noted the potential testimony could be “maybe more probative than any testimony of the issues that are going to be at issue in this trial.”
However, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Fox News that Penny’s lawyers had very few avenues to make the foreign couple corporate with the case.
“There are international treaties like the Hague Convention that allow for international service, but, practically speaking, no judge can force the European witnesses to comply with an American subpoena,” Rahmani stated.
It is unclear where the couple resides in Europe, the Post noted.
Time is running out for the couple to corporate as jury selection is slated to begin on Oct. 21.
Penny is currently charged with second-degree manslaughter and faces up to 19 years if he is convicted.
An eyewitness, who described herself as a lifelong New Yorker and woman of color, previously referred to the Marine as a hero for how he acted during the May 1, 2023, incident.
She recounted how passengers were scared of Neely’s erratic behavior on the subway, and Penny only became involved when Neely began using language such as “bullet” and “kill.”
