Jury Deadlocks On Manslaughter Charge For Daniel Penny
December 7, 2024
Judge Maxwell Wiley only dismissed the manslaughter charge after the jury was deadlocked on that charge twice.
After jurors failed to reach a verdict on a manslaughter charge for Daniel Penny, a white former Marine accused of fatally choking Jordan Neely, a Black man with mental illness, on a New York City subway in 2023, they will reconvene on Dec. 9 to deliberate a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.
According to CNN, Judge Maxwell Wiley only dismissed the manslaughter charge after the jury was deadlocked on that charge twice, informing him that they could not agree on the charge.
The lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide only carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison, compared to 15 years in prison for manslaughter.
Judge Wiley could also opt not to give Penny any time in prison if he is convicted on the lesser charge.
However, according to the judge’s instructions, he could only be convicted of either manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide, but not both charges at once.
According to The Gothamist, defense attorneys for Penny petitioned Judge Wiley for a mistrial, arguing that pressuring the jurors to come to a consensus after they sent two notes indicating they couldn’t was coercive and that the facts of the case were not that complicated.
Wiley disagreed, telling the defense lawyers “I disagree that the facts aren’t complicated. It is a very factually complicated case.”
After jurors returned with more notes, including one asking for the definition of a “reasonable person,” and another informing Judge Wiley that it was impossible for them to reach a consensus, prosecutors told the judge that they were considering dismissing the manslaughter charge.
After Judge Wiley indicated that he would dismiss the manslaughter charge in favor of the lesser charge, in accordance with a motion filed by the prosecution, he said that although there was no legal precedent for this, he said that the case is “unique” and he is willing to “take a chance and grant the prosecution’s application.” The defense has indicated that if their client is convicted, they will appeal the guilty verdict.
Defense attorney Thomas Kenniff said in a statement released on Dec. 6 that although he was pleased with the dismissal of the manslaughter charge, he continued his argument that his client acted reasonably and hoped for an acquittal on the lesser charge.
“We are obviously very pleased with the Court’s decision to withdraw the top count of this indictment,” Keniff said. “However, we have always maintained that Danny acted reasonably in restraining Jordan Neely, and justice will not be served until he is acquitted of criminally negligent homicide as well. We are hopeful that will happen when the jury returns on Monday.”
According to The Gothamist, the bystander video that depicts Penny placing Neely in a chokehold for several minutes, and Penny’s interview with NYPD investigators featured prominently in the jury trial, and they asked to watch the videos multiple times.
In addition to this, defense attorneys attempted to argue that Neely’s sickle cell anemia played a role in his death, similar to arguments used in the trial concerning the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minnesota Police Department.
Prosecutors countered this argument, in concert with numerous medical examiners, by saying that a pre-existing condition does not supersede external trauma, like a chokehold, being inflicted on a person.
They also noted that sickle cell disease predominantly affects Black people and is sometimes used in efforts to cover up the actual cause of death when Black people are killed in the custody of law enforcement.
In her closing arguments delivered on Dec. 2, prosecutor Dafna Yoran argued that although Penny had the intention of protecting his fellow passengers, “he just didn’t recognize that Jordan Neely’s life too needed to be preserved,” and argued that “we are here today because the defendant used way too much force for way too long in way too reckless of a manner.”
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