Jurors in the trial of Daniel Penny, the man charged with manslaughter in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely in May 2023, claimed they were at a standstill and the judge ordered them to continue deliberating on Friday.
The jury stated that it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the primary allegation of manslaughter. Additionally, Penny faces charges of criminally negligent homicide. He entered a not guilty plea.
On Friday morning, the jury, which has been debating since Tuesday afternoon, wrote to Judge Maxwell Wiley to express their inability to reach a consensus on a verdict about the manslaughter allegation. Wiley informed the jury before they started deliberating that they could not consider the lesser allegation of criminally negligent homicide until they reached a unanimous verdict on that charge. They were also told to determine whether Penny’s actions killed Neely and, if so, whether his actions were careless and unwarranted.
One of Penny’s lawyers, Thomas Kenniff, requested that the court declare a mistrial outside of the jury room.
In what is, in many respects, a factually straightforward case, the jury has been debating for almost 20 hours over four days, Kenniff informed the judge. Under these conditions, we fear that the Allen charge will be administered under duress.
When a jury is deadlocked, an Allen charge tells them to keep attempting to reach a unanimous decision.
In disagreement, Manhattan District Attorney’s Office assistant prosecutor Dafna Yoran requested that Wiley present the Allen charge to the jurors. According to her, the jury’s note was the first sign that they had been at odds.
Jurors requested to view bystander footage of Penny restraint of Neely, body camera footage of responding cops, and footage of Penny’s following interview with two police detectives at a precinct during deliberations. Additionally, they requested a replay of the medical examiner’s testimony on the issuance of a death certificate prior to the completion of Neely’s entire toxicology results. They further requested that the definitions of criminal negligence and recklessness be provided in writing and that the court read them back.
According to Wiley, he disagreed with Kenniff that the case was not factually complex and felt compelled to present the Allen allegation to the jurors.
He referred to the note that the panel sent on Friday morning, saying, “The tone of the note is that this is an extremely conscientious jury that is going about things in a very systematic way.” A mistrial should not be declared at this time.
Wiley informed the jurors that he did not want them to violate their consciences after they were summoned back into the courtroom.
“I implore all of you to do everything within your power to reach a fair decision,” he said.
On the afternoon of May 1, 2023, Penny, a former Marine and architecture student, was traveling to the gym after class when he came upon an unpredictable Neely on a subway train in New York City.
According to witnesses, Neely, a former Michael Jackson lookalike, flung his jacket on the ground and yelled loudly that he was hungry, thirsty, and didn’t care if he died or was sent back to jail when he boarded the train. After the uptown F train reached its next destination, the Broadway-Lafayette station, Penny secured him in a chokehold that, according to the prosecution, lasted for six minutes. Neely, 30, had a history of mental illness and was homeless. He had synthetic marijuana, often known as K2, in his bloodstream when he passed away.
According to Penny and his lawyers, he merely intended to confine Neely until the police arrived, not to hurt him. The reason of Neely’s death was also contested by his lawyers, Kenniff and Steven Rasier. According to a city medical examiner, Neely’s chokehold caused his neck to compress, resulting in his death. Neely died from the combined effects of schizophrenia, synthetic marijuana, sickle cell crisis, and the attempt to escape Penny’s custody, according to testimony from a forensic pathologist hired by the defense. However, the medical examiner who conducted Neely’s autopsy stated in her testimony that she did not think there were any other plausible reasons why Neely could have died.
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