European couple who taped Jordan Neely subway chokehold death could have ‘favorable’ testimony in Daniel Penny case — but refuse to cooperate

A European couple who videotaped the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely could be “incredibly favorable” to ex-Marine Daniel Penny’s defense at his upcoming trial, his lawyers say — but the mystery lovebirds have refused to testify.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley revealed Monday that the two European eyewitnesses have rebuffed prosecutors’ bid to get them to turn over the footage and return to the city for Penny’s trial next month, according to a transcript obtained by The Post.

The couple “apparently took a video of the incident, and since that time have declined to testify in the Grand Jury, and have gone back to their home, which apparently is in Europe someplace,” the judge said during a lawyers-only conference.

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“They have so far refused to share the video that they took,” the judge added. “They refused to share it with the DA, or with anyone else, and they are so far refusing to come back to testify.”

The tourists have conducted a couple of video meetings with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, but have yet to agree to fully cooperate, the judge said.

No explanation was provided for why the husband and wife are refusing to hand over the footage or testify in the controversial case. It’s unclear where in Europe they are from.

Penny, who was not in court Monday, faces charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for the caught-on-camera confrontation that left Neely dead on the floor of an F train subway car in May 2023.

The former infantry squad leader has repeatedly said he didn’t mean to kill Neely, a homeless former Michael Jackson impersonator who had battled mental illness in the years leading up to his death.

But Penny felt like he needed to step in to protect fellow straphangers from Neely, who witnesses say was tossing garbage and screaming that he was willing to “kill a motherf–ker” and go to jail, according to his lawyers.

Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, said the European couple’s testimony could be key to Penny’s defense — and that if the matter isn’t settled soon, it could pose a “very serious issue” before jury selection kicks off in late October.

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Using a word to describe valuable evidence, Kenniff said the couple’s testimony would not only be “probative,” but would be “incredibly favorable to the defense, or at least certain parts of it.”

The tourists’ account of the episode could be “maybe more probative than any testimony of the issues that are going to be at issue in this trial,” the lawyer added.

Attorneys were asked by the judge if they’d be open to the couple testifying remotely from Europe — but Penny’s attorneys are hopeful that the couple will come testify in person.

“I certainly don’t have — we certainly don’t have the means of making that happen. Whether the People do or not, I guess, is a question of international law, and The Hague, and so forth,” said Kenniff, in a reference to the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands.

It’s unclear what the couple’s video will show or how it could arguably be beneficial to Penny.

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Prosecutors are in possession of other video showing Neely’s death, court records show.

Penny’s attorney declined to comment when asked about the European couple.

Jury selection in the case is set to begin around October 21 and the trial is expected to last for several weeks until the court’s Christmas break on December 20, according to the judge.

Penny faces up to 19 years behind bars if convicted in the case.

He’s due back in court on October 3.