Jury in subway chokehold case to begin weighing lesser charge after manslaughter count was dismissed

NEW YORK (AP) After jurors in New York City stated last week that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision on a more serious charge, they will now begin considering whether to convict Marine veteran Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a man he put in a chokehold on a subway train.

The judge instructed the panel to begin debating on the lesser charge, which carries a reduced punishment, on Monday after agreeing to dismiss Penny’s top count of manslaughter on Friday.

I am not sure whether that makes a difference. Judge Maxwell Wiley, however, instructed them to go home and consider another matter, saying, “I’m going to direct you to focus your deliberations on count two.”

When Jordan Neely started acting strangely aboard a metro ride in May 2023, Penny put him in a chokehold for around six minutes. Prosecutors said the 26-year-old went too far in reacting to Neely, who was unarmed, while his attorneys contended during the month-long trial that he risked his life to shield other passengers from a mentally ill individual.

In addition to sparking national discussion, the case has caused division among New Yorkers over public safety and homelessness concerns in a city where millions of people use the subway daily.

The jurors were instructed to reach a verdict on the manslaughter count before considering criminally negligent homicide when they started deliberating on Tuesday. Despite Wiley’s encouragement to keep trying, they notified the judge on Friday that they were stuck on the top charge.

Manslaughter, which entails willfully causing the death of another person, is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. A criminally negligent homicide occurs when a defendant commits culpable behavior that they did not realize increased the likelihood of death. The penalties for it range from probation to a maximum of four years in jail.

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Witnesses to the subway altercation and a Marine Corps instructor who taught Penny chokehold tactics testified before the jury during the trial. Although Penny declined to testify, friends and family discussed his personality.

Neely, 30, has a history of drug and mental health issues in addition to being a Michael Jackson mimic who performed in the system.

Andre Zachary, Neely’s father, sued Penny last week, claiming that his son’s death was caused by his negligence, abuse, and battery. Steven Raiser, Penny’s attorney, called the lawsuit an attempt to attack Danny while he is under a lot of stress and rejected it as a distraction during jury deliberations.

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