The suspect indicted on charges relating to the death of a New York homeless man pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday.
Daniel Penny, 24, a Marine veteran, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, 30. The court hearing lasted less than five minutes, per CNN.
Penny was indicted in mid-June and has been out on a $100,000 bond. He will be due back in court on Oct. 25 and the conditions of his bond agreement are unchanged. If Penny is convicted, he could face a total of 19 years behind bars.
Neely was known for being a Michael Jackson impersonator who performed in Times Square. He was on a subway train in New York City when he began shouting that he had nothing to eat or drink and had nothing to live for on May 1.
Reports from inside the train stated that Neely threw trash at other passengers but did not engage in any physical violence toward them. Passengers were visibly uncomfortable and attempted to move away from Neely.
Eventually, Penny came up from behind Neely and placed Neely in a chokehold as two other unidentified men helped by restraining his arms and legs. Penny held Neely in the chokehold for several minutes before he became unresponsive.
Medical personnel arrived on the scene and transported Neely to Lenox Health hospital in Greenwich Village, where he was later pronounced dead.
New York's Office of Chief Medical Examiner released the cause of death a few days after the incident, stating he died from "compression of neck" or a "chokehold." He ruled Neely's death a homicide.
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Penny's attorneys have continued to claim their client is innocent and his actions were "fully justified."
“While we respect the decision of the grand jury to move this case forward to trial, it should be noted that the standard of proof in a grand jury is very low and there has been no finding of wrongdoing,” attorneys Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff said in a statement on Wednesday.