The manslaughter trial of Marine veteran Daniel Penny continued in Manhattan this week, with no less than our First Civil Right, the right of self-defense, hanging in the balance. If convicted, Penny, 26, faces up to 15 years in prison.

Yesterday, a key defense witness told jurors that the prosecution’s case isn’t what it seems. That witness, a forensic pathologist, testified that the so-called chokehold Penny had used to subdue a deranged subway rider who’d been threatening him and his fellow passengers was not the cause of death of the would-be assailant, a 30-year-old homeless man with dozens of priors named Jordan Neely. (For what it’s worth, Penny used a carotid restraint on Neely, not a chokehold, but the mainstream media seems incapable of making this distinction.)

Rather than Penny’s restraint, the pathologist said, the cause of death was a combination of Neely’s preexisting medical issues and the drugs that were in his body at the time. (If this medical assessment sounds vaguely familiar, you might revisit the actual cause of career criminal George Floyd’s death, which wasn’t the knee-on-neck restraint applied by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was scapegoated as a sacrifice to the leftist mob.)

The defense pathologist, Dr. Satish Chundru, blamed “the combined effect of sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana.” In this respect, there was general agreement between the defense and the prosecution. On Monday, the state rested its case with medical examiner Dr. Cynthia Harris claiming Neely was killed solely by Penny’s chokehold, even though Neely had enough drugs in him “to put down an elephant.”

Is anyone else puzzled by the certitude of this medical examiner’s assessment?

In any case, as famed defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz pointed out on Fox News last night, the debate over the cause of Neely’s death is a distraction from the real issue, which is that Penny did nothing wrong, that he acted in self-defense.

“This case never should have been brought, not in a million years,” said Dershowitz. “You don’t bring a case where there’s a reasonable defense, and there’s a reasonable defense in this case. … The jury, I think, will acquit. At worst, a hung jury. But it never should have gone to the jury.”

Dershowitz then took a swipe at the Soros-funded Manhattan DA who brought the case — who happens to be the same guy that brought the abominable hush-money case against Donald Trump. “But that’s Alvin Bragg,” shrugged Dershowitz. “He brings the wrong cases.”

Jury selection could be crucial. Indeed, the jury was drawn from a pool of Penny’s “peers” who voted for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by 60 points. Still, some of these jurors have no doubt been on the subway themselves. And they’ve no doubt heard and perhaps even seen firsthand what a dangerous place it can be. It’s hard to imagine that not a single one of them will be sympathetic to Penny.

That doesn’t mean the mainstream media has been sympathetic. Get a load of this vile characterization of Penny by the AP: “To some New Yorkers, he’s the white vigilante who choked an innocent Black man to death on the subway. To others, he’s the U.S. Marine Corps veteran whose attempt to subdue a mentally ill man ended in tragedy.” Whoa. “An innocent Black man”? Are these people kidding?

Earlier in the week, the defense called several character witnesses to the stand: Penny’s mom, his sister, some friends, and two Marines who served with Penny. All of them praised his character and integrity.

Penny’s 30-minute NYPD interrogation video was also released this week. Penny had been on his way to the gym after his architecture class in Brooklyn when his life changed forever. At the time of the interrogation, he didn’t know Neely had died.

Daniel Penny’s police interrogation.

This prosecution is an utter travesty.pic.twitter.com/DM4rh7b79Q

— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) November 21, 2024

“Some guy came in,” Penny said, “and he’s like with his jacket off, and he’s like, ‘I’m gonna kill everybody. I’m gonna go to prison forever. I don’t care.’”

Penny said he then exchanged looks with the person next to him and asked that person to hold his phone. He then took his earbuds out and grabbed Neely from behind in a headlock.

“Because he was acting like a lunatic, like a crazy person,” Penny continued. “So, and he was rolling around the floor. And at that point, the train stopped. I was like, ‘Someone call the cops,’ and he’s still, like, rolling around, still going crazy. I had two other guys kind of help me just kind of keep him from going nuts. … He’s like, ‘If I don’t get this, this and this, I’m going to go to jail forever.’ He was talking gibberish, you know, but these guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff.”

Last year, Penny said he acted “in a way that would protect the other passengers, protect myself, and protect Mr. Neely.”

I believe Daniel Penny tried to do just that. I believe his intentions were good and admirable. And, yes, heroic. Let’s hope and pray at least one juror believes him, too.

Updated with a three-word sentence meant to remove any doubt that I believe Daniel Penny is a hero rather than the villain that the prosecution and the woke Left would have us believe.