Daniel Penny found not guilty in Jordan Neely's death

(NewsNation) —  The jury successful Daniel Penny’s high-profile trial has returned and has recovered the erstwhile Marine not blameworthy successful the decease of Jordan Neely.

The verdict comes aft Judge Maxwell Wiley dismissed the manslaughter complaint against Penny, who is accused of sidesplitting Neely. The judge’s ruling connected Friday near the assemblage to see a lesser complaint of criminally negligent homicide against Penny.

Wiley gave the jurors the Allen charge earlier connected Friday, which are instructions reminding the jurors of however overmuch clip and wealth has gone into the lawsuit and however imperative it is that they scope a decision.

This comes aft jurors told Wiley they were incapable to travel to a unanimous determination connected the manslaughter complaint against Penny, who besides faces 1 for criminally negligent homicide. Penny has pleaded not guilty.

Penny placed Neely successful a chokehold for astir six minutes aft the antheral threatened to termination different passengers connected the subway.

The jury, made up of 5 men and 7 women, deliberated aft closing arguments began past week. Before the justice dismissed the manslaughter charge, the assemblage indicated that it could not determine connected the manslaughter complaint aft it struggled with some Penny's justification for placing Neely successful the chokehold and whether the chokehold really caused Neely's death.

The assemblage tin find Penny blameworthy of criminally negligent homicide if it decides Penny acted recklessly oregon was careless. The lesser complaint carries a maximum condemnation of 4 years.

Defense attorneys representing Penny petitioned a justice to person the charges against their lawsuit dismissed aft Thanksgiving, but the justice ruled that the lawsuit would determination to closing arguments.  

The defence rested connected November 29 after electing not to person Penny testify in his ain defense.

Deliberations began aft the seven-week proceedings that included 40 witnesses. Jury members besides watched hours of video during the proceedings and listened to recordings of 911 calls that were placed pursuing the incident.

During their deliberations, the assemblage sent a bid of notes to the judge, requesting cardinal pieces of evidence, including cellphone video footage of Penny keeping the chokehold connected Neely. The assemblage besides requested that justice work definitions of "recklessness" and "negligence," which spoke to the contented of Penny's justification for his actions.

Jordan Neely’s origin of decease is disputed

Central to the lawsuit was whether the clasp that Penny enactment connected Neely led to the man’s death.

The aesculapian examiner, cardinal to the prosecution, said the crushed for Neely’s decease was the chokehold, but the defense’s experts said this was not the case. He said it was a operation of 4 factors: restraint and struggle, sickle compartment crisis, a synthetic cause successful his strategy called K-2 and schizophrenia.

Daniel Penny leaves the courtroom during a interruption successful New York, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. Jury enactment is acceptable to statesman successful the transgression proceedings of the U.S. Marine Corps seasoned who placed a antheral successful a deadly chokehold aboard a New York City subway bid past year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Penny told officers successful an interrogation country that Neely told passengers connected the subway, “I’m gonna termination everybody. I’m gonna spell to situation forever. I don’t care. I’m gonna bash this.”

The defense’s objective pathologist, Dr. Satish Chundru, testified that Neely’s injuries suffered successful the 2023 incident, on with video changeable by passengers, did not bespeak that Neely died from the chokehold applied by Penny. 

Chundru, citing aesculapian records, testified that the determination and grade of the bruising Neely suffered, on with different factors, led him to reason that the chokehold was not fatal. In summation to the bruising connected Neely’s neck, Chundru testified that determination was a tiny magnitude of petechiae — tiny reddish spots caused by subsurface bleeding — connected his eyelids.

Chundru concluded that Neely died from “the combined effects” of synthetic marijuana, schizophrenia, his conflict and restraint and a humor information that tin pb to fatal complications during exertion.

Prosecutors maintained that Penny's actions are straight connected to Neely's death.

"I’m definite that you had perfectly nary question successful your caput astir what caused Jordan Neely's death. It’s excessively obvious," Yoran said during her closing argument.

"This is simply a wide lawsuit of decease by chokehold."

Daniel Penny encounters Jordan Neely

Jurors learned during the proceedings that Neely was begging for wealth May 1, 2023, but that helium began to outcry to passengers that helium was consenting to dice oregon spell to jail.

Protesters stitchery extracurricular of a New York City courthouse arsenic assemblage enactment begins successful the proceedings of Daniel Penny, who is charged successful the decease of Jordan Neely, connected October 21, 2024, successful New York City. Penny, 26, a erstwhile Marine, is charged successful the decease of Jordan Neely connected a New York City subway by choking him aft an altercation involving panhandling connected the bid car. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Testimony included that Neely, who sometimes entertained passengers arsenic an Elvis impersonator aboard the subway, began acting erratically and began making threats to passengers, witnesses said. Penny has said Neely lurched toward a pistillate with a tiny kid and said, “I volition kill.”

Penny enactment his limb astir Neely’s neck, took him to the floor, and held Neely there, with Penny’s legs astir him, for adjacent to six minutes, bystander videos show. Neely had stopped moving astatine astir the past minute, witnesses said.

Penny’s defence attorneys asked assemblage members to enactment themselves successful the shoes of those aboard the train, portion prosecutors countered that Penny acted excessively aggressively and was forceful and reckless successful responding to Penny. Defense lawyer Steven Raiser told jurors during his closing statement that Neely was filled with rage erstwhile helium entered the bid and was not acrophobic of immoderate consequences.

However, prosecutors argued that contempt Neely’s actions, Penny went excessively far.

“You evidently cannot termination idiosyncratic due to the fact that they are brainsick and ranting and looking menacing, nary substance what it is that they are saying,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran told jurors during her closing argument, according to The Associated Press.

Raiser told jurors this week that his lawsuit could not merchandise Neely from the clasp without putting others successful danger. He besides said that Penny ne'er applied capable unit to Neely to origin his death.

Prosecutors disagreed, citing Penny’s subject experience.

“He was trained successful this,” Yoran said during her closing argument, referring to the chokehold, according to The New York Times, “and yet helium continued with the foreseeable and tragic results.”

The Associated Press contributed reporting to this article.