A New York City jury on Monday found Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny not guilty of manslaughter in the 2023 strangulation death of Jordan Neely inside a New York City subway car.
CBS News report Penny, 26, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
A judge dismissed second-degree manslaughter charges against Penny on Friday after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Penny's lawyer said he was protecting himself and other subway passengers from an unstable mentally ill man who was making alarming comments and gestures. The defense also challenged the city medical examiner's finding that Neely died from strangulation.
Prosecutors said Penny was not human and reacted too forcefully to someone he perceived to be dangerous.
The jury could only consider the manslaughter charge if Penny was found not guilty of manslaughter, which would have been dismissed. The CBS article outlines:
The verdict was announced after jurors deliberated for more than 20 hours.
Penny could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and four years in prison for manslaughter. There is no minimum sentence.
Not guilty verdict is given after jury I heard from More than 40 witnesses, including passengers, testified that Neely yelled horrifying abuse on the train before Penny approached him from behind and forced him off the train at the Broadway-Lafayette station.
Penny himself did not take the stand during the trial, and defense attorneys said their client's statements to police adequately described the encounter.
But some of his relatives, friends and Marines did, describing him as an honest, patriotic and empathetic man.
“He was always a very calm, gentle person,” his sister, Jacqueline Penny, told the jury, according to The Associated Press. memo.
While the criminal trial progresses and jury deliberations begin on Tuesday, Dec. 2, Neely's father filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Penny.
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