( NewsNation) — Defense arguments are set to begin Monday in the trial of Daniel Penny, a former Marine accused of killing a mentally ill man on the New York City subway.

This week, Daniel Penny was finally portrayed in court as a peaceful, compassionate man hardwired to intervene on behalf of strangers in peril.

Daniel Penny's mother took the stand, along with a forensic pathologist who addressed Jordan Neely's potential mental state. Penny is facing manslaughter charges in the death of Neely on a subway train in 2023.

Prosecutors have had to acknowledge that a victim frightened those around him. The defense lawyers are expected to paint their client as a protector.

On Dec. 22, 1984, four black teenagers approached electronics specialist Bernhard Goetz, 37, on the New York City subway. After one of them said, “Give me five dollars,” Goetz pulled out a five-shot revolver and opened fire, injuring all four. Of these, one suffered a severed spinal cord, paralyzing him.

The medical examiner testified Friday at the Daniel Penny chokehold trial that it was Penny's chokehold that caused the death of Jordan Neely. Law and Crime anchor Jesse Weber explains what the defense should do next and what the jury should consider.

Prosecutors rested their case Monday in the trial of Daniel Penny​, the Marine veteran charged in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely​ on board a subway train last year.