NEW YORK — Daniel Penny has been discovered not responsible of criminally negligent murder within the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway automobile in 2023.
Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, pleaded not guilty to costs of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent murder.
The choose dismissed the manslaughter charge Friday after jurors stated they might not come to a unanimous determination. The jury might solely contemplate the negligent murder cost if Penny was cleared of manslaughter.
Word of the decision got here after jurors deliberated for more than 20 hours. Penny appeared to smile, as his attorneys hugged one another.
CBS News New York’s Alice Gainer was contained in the courtroom, the place she reported chaos unfolded after the decision was introduced. Some cheered in assist of Penny, whereas Neely’s father needed to depart the room as a result of he stood up and was swearing.
“Our name to motion is to deal with one another. We cannot depend on exterior individuals. If we see somebody asking for meals, we’ve got to take the duty to offer it to them. If we see somebody chilly, to offer them a coat. If we see somebody going by way of one thing, to ask them in the event that they’re OK,” Donte Mills, lawyer for the Neely household, stated in a information convention exterior the courthouse. “That’s how we assist one another, as a result of we will not depend on the system to do it for us.”
Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, additionally spoke exterior the courthouse, saying, “nobody deserves to be choked to demise.”
Penny confronted a most attainable sentence of 15 years in jail on the manslaughter cost, or 4 years on the negligent murder cost. There was no minimal sentence.
Protests exterior courthouse over Daniel Penny verdict
About 15 protesters lined up exterior the courthouse Monday, chanting “justice for Jordan Neely.” Inside, Penny’s protection workforce requested for a mistrial and as soon as once more was denied.
The protection additionally raised considerations that jurors might doubtlessly hear a few of what the demonstrators had been saying. They stated the demonstrators had been utilizing megaphones and bullhorns, chanting issues like, “murdered” and “subway strangler.”
The choose agreed he additionally heard the commotion and reminded the jury to disregard issues they could hear or learn in regards to the case.
One activist who has been exterior demonstrating each morning was inside and yelled one thing at Penny alongside the strains of “it is a small world, buddy.”
Manhattan district lawyer responds with assertion
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg launched an announcement following the decision, saying partly, “the jury has now spoken.”
As with each case, we adopted the info and the proof from starting to finish. A Grand Jury voted to indict, and the Office fastidiously introduced this case to a trial jury.
Over the course of the trial, we launched medical data, movies, bodycam footage, and testimony from over 30 witnesses, together with from the City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The jury fastidiously deliberated for 4 days. They requested readbacks of testimony and requested for video footage to re-watch, in addition to written definitions of the legislation. Their prolonged deliberation – and the totality of the info and the proof – underscored why this case was put in entrance of a jury of Mr. Penny’s friends.
The jury has now spoken. At the Manhattan D.A.’s Office we deeply respect the jury course of and we respect their verdict.
Unfortunately, over the length of this trial, proficient profession prosecutors and their members of the family had been besieged with hate and threats – on social media, by telephone and over e-mail. Simply put, that is unacceptable, and everybody, regardless of your opinion on this case, ought to condemn it. These are prosecutors who’ve devoted a long time of their lives to public service and to the protection of Manhattan. I’m grateful to them, in addition to to the NYPD for his or her onerous work and dedication on not solely this matter, however for all they do on behalf of New Yorkers. I additionally need to thank Judge Wiley for presiding over this case. Finally, I need to thank the members of the jury who took outing of their lives to diligently consider the proof.
About the fees
In order to be convicted of manslaughter, prosecutors needed to show:
In order to be convicted of criminally negligent homicide, prosecutors needed to show:
The demise of Jordan Neely
Police and witnesses stated Neely, 30, boarded an F train in SoHo on May 1, 2023 and started shouting, throwing issues and making threats. Penny, a passenger on the prepare, approached Neely from behind and tried to restrain him.
Video exhibits Penny holding Neely in a chokehold on the ground of the prepare for a number of minutes till Neely stopped shifting. After police arrived, officers administered Narcan to Neely, carried out CPR and used an AED, however had been unable to revive him. Neely was pronounced useless on the scene.
Police stated Neely didn’t have any weapons on him.
A health worker dominated Neely’s death a homicide three days later, with the trigger as compression of the neck. Toxicology experiences confirmed Neely had artificial marijuana in his system when he died.
Neely was a street performer and Michael Jackson impersonator who was experiencing homelessness and had struggled with mental illness after his mother was murdered in 2007.
Video of Penny holding Neely within the chokehold was broadly circulated on-line. Neely’s demise sparked protests across New York City, with many raising concerns about the need for better mental health care within the metropolis, and Neely’s household called for Penny’s arrest.
Penny turned himself in on May 12, 2023, and was initially charged with second-degree manslaughter and released on $100,000 bail. He was arraigned in June and pleaded not responsible to criminally negligent murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Penny defended his actions, saying he was trying to protect other passengers on the train by restraining Neely.
NYC subway chokehold demise trial
In late October 2024, a 12-person jury and four alternates were selected and sworn in. They included seven girls and 5 males, with no less than seven White individuals, one Hispanic individual, one Filipino individual, one Black individual and one individual of Middle Eastern descent.
The trial started Nov. 1.
The prosecution argued in their opening statements that Penny, although he had good intentions, recklessly used extreme power with out attempting some other technique of deescalating the scenario. The protection, in the meantime, argued Penny was defending different passengers and there was no different option to deescalate because of Neely’s habits.
Jurors heard testimony from a number of witnesses, together with cops, MTA workers, passengers on the train and a bystander who helped Penny restrain Neely. Penny’s Marine Corps martial arts instructor and the medical examiner who performed Neely’s autopsy additionally took the stand. The protection known as Penny’s mother and platoon sergeants as character witnesses, together with a forensic pathologist who said he disagreed with the medical examiner’s cause of death.
Jurors began their deliberations last Tuesday. They despatched two notes again to the choose. The first requested a readback of a part of the choose’s directions. The second notice requested the choose if they might return for deliberations Wednesday, which is a day they’d usually have had off. The choose accepted that request.
Wednesday morning, jurors sent another note, asking to see a video compilation of police bodycams from the incident, in addition to footage of Penny’s police station interview. Jurors additionally requested for readback of the health worker’s cross-examination.
Friday morning, on the fourth day of deliberations, they despatched a notice to the choose indicating they could not attain a unanimous verdict on his manslaughter cost.
