Daniel Penny walks towards the courtroom, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, in New York. (Heather Khalifa/AP)
NEW YORK — A Marine veteran who used a chokehold on an agitated subway rider was acquitted on Monday in a death that became a prism for differing views about public safety, valor and vigilantism.
A Manhattan jury delivered the verdict, clearing Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely’s death last year. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed earlier in deliberations because the jury deadlocked on that count.
Both charges were felonies and carried the possibility of prison time.
Penny, 26, gripped Jordan Neely around the neck for about six minutes in a chokehold that other subway passengers partially captured on video.
Penny’s lawyers said he was protecting himself and other subway passengers from a volatile, mentally ill man who was making alarming remarks and gestures. The defense also disputed a city medical examiner’s finding that the chokehold killed Neely.
Prosecutors said Penny reacted far too forcefully to someone he perceived as a peril, not a person.
The case amplified many American fault lines, among them race, politics, crime, urban life, mental illness and homelessness. Neely was Black. Penny is white.
There were sometimes dueling demonstrations outside the courthouse, and high-profile Republican politicians portrayed Penny as a hero while prominent Democrats attended Neely’s funeral.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors began Monday to weigh whether to convict Marine veteran Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide after they deadlocked last week on a more serious charge in the case surrounding a chokehold on a New York City subway train.
The case arose from subway rider Jordan Neely’s death after he made an outburst and Penny put him in a chokehold in May 2023.
Judge Maxwell Wiley agreed Friday to dismiss the indictment’s top count of manslaughter and directed the panel to start deliberating Monday on the lesser homicide charge, which carries a lighter punishment.
As court convened Monday morning, Wiley told jurors he wasn’t directing them to reach a verdict, unless all 12 agreed it was right under the law and the evidence.
“It’s not the court’s business to talk about what directions your deliberations are taking or what you’re talking about, and it’s certainly not the court’s role to influence your deliberations. In fact, that’s improper. That’s entirely up to you,” Wiley said.
The deliberations resumed over objections from Penny’s lawyers, who made the latest in a series of requests for a mistrial. Wiley denied it, as well as another mistrial request the defense made about 20 minutes later. That one concerned protesters outside the courthouse, whose chants were audible in the courtroom and likely the jury room. The issue has come up before.
Penny’s lawyer Thomas Kenniff contended Monday that cries such as “if we don’t get justice, they won’t get peace” amount to “threats of violence” if Penny isn’t convicted.
Wiley noted that Penny supporters also were shouting outside the courthouse Monday morning, and that everyone went quiet shortly after deliberations started — though bursts of chanting could be heard off-and-on through the morning.
The judge emphasized that he had repeatedly instructed jurors to ignore anything said about the case outside the courtroom.
Penny placed Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes after Neely began acting erratically on a subway car. During the monthlong trial, the 26-year-old Penny’s lawyers argued he put his own safety on the line to protect other passengers from a mentally ill and menacing man, while prosecutors said he went too far in responding to Neely, who was unarmed.
Penny is white, and Neely was Black.
The case sparked national debate and has divided New Yorkers over homelessness and public safety in a city where millions ride the subway every day.
Jurors began deliberating last Tuesday and at the time were told they needed to reach a verdict on the manslaughter count before they could consider criminally negligent homicide. On Friday, they told Wiley they were deadlocked on the top charge, and remained so even after he urged them to keep trying.
Manslaughter involves recklessly causing another person’s death and carries a possible sentence of up to 15 years behind bars. Criminally negligent homicide involves engaging in “blameworthy conduct” while failing to perceive that it would contribute to a risk of death. It carries punishments ranging from probation to up to four years imprisonment.
Penny has pleaded not guilty.
During the trial, the jury heard testimony from witnesses to the subway confrontation, as well as a Marine Corps instructor who trained Penny in chokehold techniques. Penny chose not to testify, but relatives and friends spoke about his character.
Neely, 30, sometimes entertained passersby with Michael Jackson impersonations but also struggled with depression, schizophrenia and drug use.
Neely’s father filed a lawsuit last week accusing Penny of negligence, assault and battery that led to his son’s death. Penny lawyer Steven Raiser dismissed the suit as a distraction during jury deliberations.
