A Marine who restrained a homeless man by the neck on a New York City subway train, leading to the man’s death, could avoid conviction on potential charges in the case based on a longstanding legal protection, an expert told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Jordan Neely, 30, reportedly boarded a Subway train Monday, aggressively screamed that he didn’t care about going to jail and threw his coat on the floor, with a 24-year-old Marine subsequently holding him by the neck and restraining him on the ground for around 15 minutes, according to the New York Post. Neely became unconscious and died, but the Marine could fight possible charges from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg by citing the New York state-protected right to defend or protect others from “unlawful physical force” using reasonable force, George Washington University Law Professor Emeritus John Banzhaf said.
“I think a strong argument could be made that, under the circumstances, it was reasonable to restrain that guy by holding him around the neck,” Banzhaf told the DCNF, saying the right to defend others with reasonable force has existed since the Middle Ages.
New York State’s modern Penal Law §35.15 outlining the defense justification for using reasonable force dates back to 1965. Other states have similar statutes sanctioning reasonable defensive force in threatening situations.
Former Manhattan Chief Assistant District Attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said Bragg’s office was primarily faced with considering whether the Marine was “justified and if he feared for his life,” according to The Washington Post. However, his greater size than Neely, conditioning and defense training meant he probably was not personally afraid of the homeless man, Banzhaf said, adding that “unlawful physical force” could include some unwanted touching.
Banzhaf said civilians who intervene to help others are generally prohibited from using “deadly physical force” to defend them, with New York state law defining that term as “physical force which, under the circumstances in which it is used, is readily capable of causing death or other serious physical injury.” He argued that a neck restraint does not necessarily qualify as “deadly force” based on the circumstances, noting that using weapons like tasers and tear gas can cause death despite not being intended to do so.
“Restrained by the neck” certainly is a weird way to say he choked him to death.
He subdued him any way he had to. He did what he did to save himself and countless other innocent people.
Save them from what? A smelly guy begging for food? All witness accounts said he wasn’t being violent, just loud.
Heroes today get treated like Zeros !!!! That’s WHY most will not Help Anybody today !!!!
It wasn’t a chokehold. It was a carotid hold designed for loss of consciousness then like the other idiot he died from whatever he was on.
He wasn’t on anything. They already did a full autopsy and toxicology report. He just had the gall to be homeless and beg for food on the subway.