OAN Staff James Myers
9:33am – Monday, December 9, 2024
A Manhattan jury has acquitted Daniel Penny of criminal wrongdoing in the strangulation death of Jordan Neely on a crowded subway.
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A jury found Penny not guilty of manslaughter in the May 2023 strangulation death of Neely on a crowded train, but she could be sentenced to up to four years in prison. there were.
This comes after the top charge of manslaughter was dismissed on Friday after jurors twice said they could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Jurors sided with Penny's defense, arguing that the Marine Corps veteran was justified in rushing to protect others on the subway as he subdued the crazed man. Lawyers also questioned whether there was enough evidence that strangulation caused Neely's death.
“Who's the next person to get on the train with me?” one of his lawyers, Stephen Reiser, said in closing statements in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“Do you know that a guy with earbuds on and minding his own business who you know will be there for you if something happens? Or when you’re alone in a crowd of people frozen in fear and Jordan? -Are we just hoping that people like Neely don't board the train?
Additionally, the not-guilty verdict was reached after jurors heard from more than 40 witnesses, including one who said that Penny approached him from behind on the train and that Neely was seen at the Broadway-Lafayette station before dropping him off. This included passengers who were said to have started a horrifying riot.
One subway passenger testified that he was “terrified” after hearing Neely yelling, “Even if I die, I'm going to go to jail.” She ended up thanking Penny for his actions, but Penny also exclaimed, “Someone is going to die today.”
Additionally, a mother who was attending a doctor's appointment with her 5-year-old son testified that she barricaded her son in the back of a stroller out of fear of the “belligerent and free-spirited” Neely.
During the trial, evidence showed that Neely was not carrying a weapon at the time, and officers found a muffin in Neely's pocket.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, D.N., also defended Penny, saying the Marine Corps veteran “did what the city was supposed to do” that day by protecting others.
But prosecutors argued that Penny's decision to lock Neely in the cabin after nearly all of the terrified passengers fled the train was an “overreach” and made Penny's actions a crime.
“What is so tragic about this case is that although the defendant initially tried to do the right thing, as the chokehold progressed, he realized that Jordan Neely was in severe pain and was on the verge of death. , which continued unnecessarily,” said prosecutor Dafna Yoran. In her final statement she said:
Trial evidence revealed that Neely had the synthetic cannabis drug K2 in his system at the time of the incident. Jurors were also told during the trial that Neely had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and told doctors in 2021 that she heard “devil voices.”
To help his case, Penny's mother, sister, friends, and fellow Marines took the stand and testified about Penny's character.
The defense's medical expert, forensic pathologist Dr. Satish Chundru, said Neely's death was not caused by Penny's strangulation, but by “a combination of sickle cell crisis, schizophrenia, struggle and restraint, and synthetic marijuana. He claimed that he died due to the effects of
During the trial, Penny refused to take the witness stand. Jurors heard he told officers who arrived by train that he “just kicked them out” before making a choking gesture with his arm.
Later, at No. 5 in Chinatown.th During questioning at the police station, Penny claimed he was trying to “defuse the situation” and did not want to hurt Neely.
“I'm not trying to kill that guy,” the Marine veteran told two detectives as prosecutors watched him through a one-way mirror. “I'm just trying to keep him from hurting other people.”
Meanwhile, Neely's death and Penny's arrest 11 days later sparked a firestorm over whether Penny's actions were justified.
“This lawsuit is about a broken system, a broken system that doesn't help our mentally ill and homeless people,” Penny's attorney Riser said at the end of his closing statement. .
“In fact, it's that broken system that has led us here, and it's woven into the very fabric of this case.”
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