NEW YORK – Daniel Penny has been found not guilty of negligent homicide in the choking death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway in 2023.
Cent, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, pleaded not guilty on charges of second-degree manslaughter and negligent homicide.
The judge dismissed the manslaughter charge Friday after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous decision. The jury could only consider the negligent homicide charge if Penny was acquitted of manslaughter.
The verdict came after jurors deliberated for more than twenty hours. Penny appeared to smile as his lawyers hugged each other.
Alice Gainer of CBS News New York was in the courtroom, where she reported that chaos ensued after the verdict was announced. Some cheered in support of Penny, while Neely’s father had to leave the room because he stood up and swore.
“Our call to action is to take care of each other. We cannot rely on outside people. When we see someone asking for food, we must take responsibility to give it to them. “When we see someone is cold, when we see someone is going through something, we ask if they are okay,” said Donte Mills, attorney for the Neely family, at a news conference outside the courthouse. “This is how we help each other, because we can’t trust the system to do it for us.”
by Eric Garner mother, Gwen Carralso spoke outside the courthouse, saying, “No one deserves to be choked to death.”
Penny faced a maximum prison sentence of fifteen years for manslaughter, or four years for negligent homicide. There was no minimum sentence.
Protests outside the courthouse over Daniel Penny’s sentence
About 15 protesters lined up outside the courthouse Monday and chanted “justice for Jordan Neely.” Inside, Penny’s defense team asked for a mistrial, but was again denied.
The defense also raised concerns that jurors might hear some of what the protesters said. They said the protesters used bullhorns and bullhorns and chanted things like “murdered” and “subway strangler.”
The judge agreed that he had heard the commotion too and reminded the jury to ignore things they might hear or read about the case.
An activist who demonstrated outside every morning was inside and shouted something to Penny along the lines of “it’s a small world, buddy.”
The Manhattan district attorney responded with a statement
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg released a statement following the verdict, saying in part, “The jury has now spoken.”
As with any case, we followed the facts and evidence from start to finish. A grand jury voted to indict, and the Bureau carefully presented this case to a jury.
Over the course of the trial, we introduced medical records, videos, bodycam footage, and testimony from more than 30 witnesses, including those from the city Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The jury deliberated carefully for four days. They asked for testimony to be read back and video footage to be re-watched, as well as written definitions of the law. Their lengthy deliberation – and the totality of the facts and evidence – underscored why this case was brought before a jury of Mr. Penny’s peers.
The jury has now spoken. At the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, we deeply respect the jury process and their verdict.
Unfortunately, throughout the duration of this trial, talented career prosecutors and their family members were besieged by hate and threats – on social media, by phone and via email. Simply put, this is unacceptable and everyone, regardless of your position on the matter, should condemn it. These are prosecutors who have dedicated decades of their lives to public service and the safety of Manhattan. I am grateful to them, as well as the NYPD, for their hard work and dedication, not only on this issue, but for all they do on behalf of New Yorkers. I would also like to thank Judge Wiley for presiding over this case. Finally, I would like to thank the jurors who took the time to diligently review the evidence.
About the charges
To be convicted of manslaughter, prosecutors had to prove the following:
- Penny caused Neely’s death
- That he did it so recklessly
- That he was not justified
To be convicted of negligent homicide, prosecutors had to prove the following:
- Penny caused Neely’s death
- That he did this with criminal negligence
- That he was not justified
The death of Jordan Neely
Police and witnesses said Neely, 30, boarded an F train in SoHo on May 1, 2023 and started shouting, throwing things and making threats. Penny, a passenger on the train, approached Neely from behind and tried to restrain him.
The video shows Penny holding Neely in a chokehold on the floor of the train for several minutes until Neely stopped moving. After police arrived, officers administered Narcan to Neely, performed CPR and used an AED, but were unable to revive him. Neely was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said Neely had no weapons.
A medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide three days latercaused by neck compression. Toxicology reports showed Neely had synthetic marijuana in his system when he died.
Neely it was a street performer and Michael Jackson impersonator who was homeless and struggled with mental illness after his mother was murdered in 2007.
Video of Penny putting Neely in a chokehold was widely circulated online. Neely’s death sparked an outburst protests across New York Citywith many raising concerns about the need for better mental health care in town, and Neely’s family called for Penny’s arrest.
Penny turned herself in on May 12, 2023 was initially charged with second-degree murder and released on $100,000 bail. That was him indicted in June and pleaded not guilty to negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter.
Penny defended his actions by saying he tried to protect other passengers on the train by restraining Neely.
Death trial on the New York subway
End of October 2024 a jury of twelve people and four alternates were selected and sworn in. They included seven women and five men, with at least seven white people, one Hispanic person, one Filipino person, one black person and one person of Middle Eastern descent.
The trial started on November 1.
The persecution argued in their opening statements that even though Penny had good intentions, he recklessly used excessive force without attempting any other means to de-escalate the situation. The defense, meanwhile, argued that Penny was protecting other passengers and that there was no other way to de-escalate due to Neely’s behavior.
Jurors heard testimony from multiple witnesses, including police officers, MTA employees, passengers in the train And a bystander who helped Penny restrain Neely. Penny’s Martial arts instructor in the Marine Corps And the medical examiner who performed Neely’s autopsy also took the stand. The defense called Penny’s mother and platoon sergeants as character witnessestogether with a forensic pathologist who said he disagreed with the medical examiner’s cause of death.
Jurors started their deliberations last Tuesday. They sent two notes back to the judge. The first requested that part of the judge’s instructions be read back. The second note asked the judge if they could return for deliberations on Wednesday, a day they would normally have been free. The judge approved that request.
Wednesday morning, jurors sent another noteasking for a video compilation of police bodycams of the incident, as well as footage of Penny’s police station interview. Jurors also asked to read back the medical examiner’s cross-examination.
On Friday morning, on the fourth day of deliberations, they sent a note to the judge indicating that they could not reach a unanimous verdict on his manslaughter charge.
