NEW YORK – Daniel Penny has been found not guilty of manslaughter by criminal negligence in the suffocation death of Jordan Neely in a New York City subway car in 2023.
Penny, a 26-year Navy veteran, pleaded not guilty on charges of second degree involuntary manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
the judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charge Friday after jurors said they couldn’t reach a unanimous decision. The jury could only consider the manslaughter charge if Penny was absent manslaughter.
About 15 protesters lined up outside the courthouse Monday, chanting “justice for Jordan Neely.” Inside, Penny’s defense team asked for a mistrial and was once again denied.
Word of the verdict came after the jurors deliberate for more than 20 hours. Penny appeared to smile, as her lawyers hugged each other.
CBS News New York’s Alice Gainer was inside the courtroom, where she reported that chaos had developed after the verdict was announced. Some clapped in support of Penny, while Neely’s father had to leave the room because he stood up and was swearing.
“Our call to action is to take care of each other. We cannot rely on outsiders. If we see someone asking for food, we must take responsibility to give it to them. If we see someone cold, give him If we see someone going through something, to ask if they’re OK,” said Donte Mills, attorney for the Neely family, at a press conference outside the courthouse. “This is how we help each other, because we can’t trust the system to do it for us.”
Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carrhe also spoke outside the courthouse, saying, “no one deserves to be drowned to death.”
Penny faced a maximum possible sentence of 15 years in prison on the involuntary manslaughter charge, or four years on the negligent homicide charge. There was no minimum sentence.
The Manhattan District Attorney responds with a statement
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg issued a statement after the verdict, saying in part that “the jury has now spoken.”
As in all cases, we followed the facts and evidence from beginning to end. A Grand Jury voted to indict and the Bureau carefully presented this case to a trial jury.
Throughout the trial, we introduced medical records, videos, body camera footage and testimony from more than 30 witnesses, including the City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The jury carefully deliberated for four days. They requested reading testimony and asked for video footage to be viewed again, as well as written definitions of the law. His lengthy deliberation—and the totality of the facts and evidence—underscored why this case went before a jury of Mr. Penny.
The jury has already spoken. At the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office we deeply respect the jury process and respect their verdict.
Unfortunately, for the duration of this trial, talented career prosecutors and their families were harassed with hate and threats, on social media, by phone and by email. Simply put, this is unacceptable, and everyone, regardless of their opinion on this case, should condemn it. These are prosecutors who have dedicated decades of their lives to public service and the safety of Manhattan. I am grateful to them, as well as the NYPD, for their hard work and commitment not only in this matter, but for everything they do on behalf of New Yorkers. I also want to thank Judge Wiley for presiding over this case. Finally, I want to thank the jury members who took the time of their lives to diligently evaluate the evidence.
About the charges
For having been convicted involuntary manslaughterprosecutors had to prove:
To be condemned homicide by criminal negligenceprosecutors had to prove:
The death of Jordan Neely
Police and witnesses said Neely, 30, boarded an F train in SoHo on May 1, 2023 and started shouting, throwing things and making threats. Penny, a passenger on the train, approached Neely from behind and tried to restrain him.
The video shows Penny holding Neely in a chokehold on the floor of the train for several minutes until Neely stopped moving. After police arrived, officers administered Narcan to Neely, performed CPR and used an AED, but were unable to revive him. Neely was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said Neely did not have a weapon on him.
A medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide three days laterwith the cause being compression of the neck. Toxicology reports showed Neely had synthetic marijuana in his system when he died.
Neely was a street artist and Michael Jackson impersonator who was experiencing homelessness and had struggled with mental illness after her mother was murdered in 2007.
The video of Penny holding Neely in a choke hold was widely shared online. Neely’s death led to protests in New York Citywith many raising concerns about the need for better mental health care in town, and Neely’s family he called for Penny’s arrest.
Penny was delivered on May 12, 2023 and He was initially charged with second-degree manslaughter and released on $100,000 bond.. he was court in June and pleaded not guilty to criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter.
Penny, a Navy veteran, defended his actions, saying he was trying to protect the other passengers on the train by restraining Neely.
Death trial by asphyxiation in the New York subway
At the end of October 2024, a jury of 12 people and four alternates was selected and sworn. They included seven women and five men, with at least seven whites, one Hispanic person, one Filipino person, one black person, and one person of Oriental descent.
The trial began on November 1.
The prosecutor’s office they argued in their opening statements that Penny, while well-intentioned, recklessly used excessive force without trying any other means to de-escalate the situation. Meanwhile, the defense argued that Penny was protecting other passengers and that there was no other way to de-escalate because of Neely’s behavior.
Jurors heard testimony from several witnesses, including police officers, MTA employees, passengers on the train i a bystander who helped Penny restrain Neely. Penny’s Marine Corps martial arts instructor i the medical examiner who performed Neely’s autopsy also took the place. The defense screamed Penny’s mother and the squad sergeants as character witnessesalong with a forensic pathologist who said he disagreed with the medical examiner’s cause of death.
juries they began their deliberations last Tuesday. They sent two notes to the judge. The first asked for part of the judge’s instructions to be read. The second note asked the judge if they could deliberate again on Wednesday, which is a day they would normally have off. The judge granted this request.
On Wednesday morning, jurors sent another memo, asking to see a compilation of police body camera video of the incident, as well as footage from Penny’s police station interview. Jurors also asked to read the medical examiner’s cross-examination.
On Friday morning, on the fourth day of deliberations, they sent a note to the judge saying they could not reach a unanimous verdict on his manslaughter charge.