Daniel Penny defense calls forensic pathologist to witness stand: ‘The chokehold did not cause the death’

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“The chokehold did not cause the death,” Dr. Satish Chundru testified.
“No,” Dr. Chundru replied, before the defense ended its questioning.
He compared Neely’s death to another one Dr. Chundru worked on and he said the two weren’t comparable.
“With the video, it gives us the evidence that a chokehold occurred but did not cause the death [of Neely],” he testified.
BRAGG’S OFFICE VIES TO SUPPRESS JORDAN NEELY’S DRUG ABUSE, PSYCHE RECORDS IN MARINE VET’S CHOKEHOLD TRIAL Dr. Chundru said that asphyxiation death comes in two phases.

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NEW YORK – The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office reached a very different conclusion than the Marine veteran on trial for Jordan Neely’s subway chokehold death, who called a forensic pathologist with extensive experience to testify on Thursday.

“The death was not caused by the chokehold,” Dr. Satish Chundru stated in his testimony.

If found guilty on the primary charge of manslaughter for the death of 30-year-old Neely, 26-year-old Daniel Penny could spend up to 15 years behind bars.

DANIEL PENNY TRIAL: NYC DEFENSE LAWYER SAYS MARINE VET COULD TESTIFY TO SUPPORT JUSTIFIED DEFENSE CLAIM.

He was on his way to the gym after class at a New York college in May 2023, when Neely, a homeless man with schizophrenia and a drug habit, barged onto a subway car and shouted death threats.

Former Miami-area medical examiner Chundru, who now operates a private practice in Texas performing autopsies in six counties, stated that he did not think Neely’s death was caused by an air choke.

“The combined effects of sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana,” Chundru said, was the cause of death. “,”.

He said that a schizophrenic person high on K2 and engaged in combat can pass away without ever being put in a chokehold. Similarly, he claimed that Neely would not have died if the chokehold had been the only cause and there had been no other health problems.

Defense attorney Steven Raiser questioned, “In your opinion, did Mr. Penny choke Mr. Neely to death in 2023?”.

“No,” said Dr. Chundru, and the defense then stopped interrogating.

He was questioned about some of his previous cases by Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Dafna Yoran during cross-examination. He was asked about an incident in which he declared a suffocation, but a defense expert contested his conclusions, pointing out that the victim had cocaine in their system. He claimed he didn’t have a clear memory of it, and it happened in 2012.

View the autopsy of Jordan Neely.

She persuaded Dr. Chundru to acknowledge that the video depicts Penny’s arm in a “blood choke” position and that Neely’s body was brushed in a similar manner.

But he added, “You can be put in a chokehold, walk away with that kind of injury, and still live.”. “,”.

He said that Neely’s death and another that Dr. Chundru worked on were not comparable.

“The video provides us with proof that a chokehold took place, but it did not result in Neely’s death,” he stated in his testimony.

Just before 5 p.m., the judge let the jurors go for the day. M.

Resuming Friday at 10 a.m. M. and it is anticipated that Dr. Chundru will take the witness stand once more to provide additional testimony.

The city’s autopsy was performed by Dr. Cynthia Harris, who watched from the audience as the defense expert took the stand. Three days prior, she had testified in the trial.

Daniel Penny Trial: Subway Man Says He Heard Tupac and Devil Before Deadly Chokehold (Shrink).

Harris discovered that Neely’s death was caused by the chokehold rather than his sickle cell genetic disorder, synthetic drugs, or cardiac arrest.

According to Chundru’s testimony, “This is a very complicated case,”. We are dealing with a chokehold, sickle cell trait, and schizophrenia. “,”.

In his toxicology report, Neely also contained K2, a synthetic marijuana that experts testified is more similar to cocaine.

Bradley’s office tries to suppress the drug abuse and psychological records of Jordan Neely in the Marine Vet’s chokehold trial.

Dr. According to Chundru, asphyxiation death occurs in two stages. In the first case, the person passes out. In the second, death results from prolonged pressure.

“What’s also important is that in a chokehold, unconsciousness always comes before death,” he stated.

However, he noted that making someone unconscious does not guarantee their death. According to him, they usually awaken when released.

“Death in a sickle cell crisis is a lack of oxygen, so the same thing [in] an asphyxia death,” he stated.

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