From WNYC Studios.

I'm Brian Lehrer.

This is my daily politics podcast.

It's Friday, May 12th.

Subway Choker Daniel Penny has turned himself in this morning to face charges in the death of Jordan Neely on that

F-train in Lower Manhattan last week. We'll get legal analysis now from a former assistant,

Manhattan, DA, and take your calls on the evidence as it's known so far, as well as some of the

systemic homelessness, mental health, and criminal justice issues involved.

Here's a lawyer for the Neely family, Lenin Edwards, on Channel 7 last Friday, on how they see

Daniel Penny.

We have a civilian also who's really, you know, in my view, this is somebody who's a trained

killer.

He is an ex-marine, and he understood the

art of hand-to-hand combat. Lenin Edwards, lawyer for the family of Jordan Neely, Penny's lawyer

says he was acting in self-defense and that he never intended to hurt anyone.

Penny is now charged with second-degree manslaughter.

With us now is Catherine Christian, who spent more than 30 years as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, including as Senior Trial Counsel and Director of Legal Staff Training.

She's now a partner in the law firm Liston Abramson. Catherine,

we really appreciate you coming on with us again. Welcome back to WNYC. Glad to be here. Good

morning, Brian. Kethan, let me get one thing straight first that I'm a little confused about. My

understanding is that DA Bragg is announcing these charges, but he's also still going to impanel a grand jury.

How can both things be true?

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