After lengthy deliberations, jurors in Daniel Penny's trial informed the judge Friday that they were unable to reach a verdict and the 26-year-old Marine veteran's fate remains undecided. It has been reported.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office has charged Penny with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, 30, a homeless man with schizophrenia. Penny faces up to 15 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In May 2023, Penny put Neely in a chokehold on a New York City subway train after Neely issued death threats to passengers. Neely yelled at the straphanger, “I'm going to die today,” and didn't care about being sent to prison.
“Sometimes the Allen charge works. Sometimes it doesn't.”
Neely has an extensive criminal history, most notably for assaulting a 67-year-old woman at a subway station in 2021.
Prosecutors argued that Penny restrained Neely for too long, and that Penny was responsible for Neely's death. Much of the prosecution's case relied on the shaky testimony of Dr. Cynthia Harris, who performed the autopsy.
Before watching the video of Penny strangling Neely, Harris was unable to determine Neely's cause of death, labeling it “inconclusive.” After watching the video, she revised the cause of death to “asphyxia.” Harris also argued that he would stand by that assessment even though Neely had “enough to knock down an elephant” in his system.
A toxicology report revealed that Neely had a synthetic marijuana called K2, which acts as a stimulant, in his system.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Satish Chundru disputed Harris' conclusions, arguing that Neely's death was not due to air or blood suffocation. Tundor pointed to “almost negligible” bleeding spots on Neely's eyelids, which he argued were inconsistent with a fatal strangulation.
Tundor said Neely died from “the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, schizophrenia, struggle and restraint, and synthetic marijuana.”
Dr. Chundru explained that schizophrenia causes an “increased risk of sudden cardiac death,” and said that K2 was the only cause of death in other cases he had observed.
Jurors were told that in order to reach a guilty verdict, they must conclude that Penny's use of force was unreasonable and acted recklessly with a deliberate disregard for the potential danger to Neely's life. .
Since deliberations began on Tuesday, the jury of seven women and five men has sent seven memos to the judge asking for multiple pieces of evidence to be reviewed.
They reviewed Penny's interrogation by the New York City Police Department, during which Penny waived her Miranda rights and did not know that Neely had died at the time. Jurors reviewed several videos of the incident, including body cameras of police officers who arrived at the scene. They also asked for a review of some of the judge's instructions, Harris' cross-examination testimony and the definitions of criminal negligence and recklessness.
The jury sent a memo to the judge Friday morning saying the jury was struggling to reach a verdict.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley reportedly They are considering presenting the “Allen” charge to the jury and forcing them to reach a unanimous decision.
said Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano. newsmax“The judge is trying to decide, 'Do I throw this out and call it a mistrial, do I have to start over, or do I indict Allen?'”
Napolitano noted that there are several interpretations of Allen's charges, but that in this situation the judge has a “duty” to the jury to set aside their personal biases and reach a verdict. He explained that there was a high possibility that he would tell them.
“Sometimes the Allen charge works, sometimes it doesn't,” he added.
What else?
On Wednesday, Neely's father, Andre Zachary, filed a lawsuit against Penny, alleging negligent assault, battery and serious bodily injury that led to his son's death.
Penny's lawyer, Stephen Reiser, said: fox news digital“The timing is unfortunate because Danny is awaiting a verdict from a jury and the potential impact far outweighs the threat of a civil lawsuit.”
“We will not be distracted by this attempt to attack Danny while he is under such tremendous stress,” he said.
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