Daniel Penny found not guilty in chokehold death of Jordan Neely

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

Dec. 9, 2024, 11:32 AM EST


Daniel Penny was acquitted Monday of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness whose final moments on a New York City subway train were captured on bystander video that set off weeks of protests and captured national attention.

The decision, on the fifth day of deliberations, came after the jury deadlocked Friday on the more serious charge of manslaughter, leading the judge to dismiss it. Penny faced up to four years in prison.

The anonymous jury, made up of seven women and five men, were told before they began deliberating that they had to come to a unanimous decision on the top charge of manslaughter in the second degree before moving on to consider criminally negligent homicide. But Judge Maxwell Wiley changed that order Friday after jurors twice sent a note saying they could not reach an agreement.

The judge had also instructed jurors to decide whether Penny’s actions caused Neely’s death and, if so, whether he had acted recklessly and in an unjustified manner.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/daniel-penny-found-not-guilty-chokehold-death-jordan-neely-rcna180775

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. Oh great

Now I suppose he'll go on tour like Kyle Rottenhouse?

[stopdiggin]

2. the similarities between the two incidents are so faint

as to be almost imperceptible.
I really don't know a lot about the character of this man, Perry (and neither do a lot of the rest of us at this time) - and genuinely hope that he doesn't turn out to be the low functioning retrograge cosplayer that was Rittenhouse. But currently we have no reason to think that the case.

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. He traded on being an ex-Marine

(kinda like Paul Whelan, but at least of "good character&quot and was a vigilante. Isn't that enough for you? He's probably also a RepubliKKKan with that track record.

[stopdiggin]

9. Nope. I have no idea of this man's political beliefs

But the circumstances and actions undertaken bear no resemblance at all.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. The better analogy is with what happened in NYC on a subway 40 years ago

Bernard Goetz - ‘A shock to the system’: looking back on the 1984 New York subway shooting

[Drum]

10. First thing I thought of, also...

[HereForTheParty]

15. George Floyd is a better comparison

Floyd's case was more egregious, but it's the same concept. A man is restrained. It isn't necessary to choke him to death.

If a white man was harassing and threatening a group of black homeless men, and one of those black homeless men took him down and killed him in a similar manner - does anyone believe for a heartbeat he'd be exonerated?

[LauraInLA]

20. George Floyd's case also differs bc it involved police officers "at work".

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

26. The chances would be zero, nada, nil, zip!! This case screams racism... where are the protests?!

[canuckledragger]

3. So another willful murderer goes free

...because he murdered somebody that society looks down on.

[Bonx]

6. He was never charged with 'murder'

Maybe you didn't follow this case.

[stopdiggin]

8. never even close to a 'murder'

you're starting off really wrong footed on this one.

[canuckledragger]

18. An unarmed person is dead because someone's ego decided to take his life

That's murder to me.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

27. Yup... 100!

[babylonsister]

11. Wasn't the guy who died

attacking people and acting cray-cray? i do not think this guy is a willful murderer.

[HereForTheParty]

16. Penny had reason to restrain him

but not choke him to death.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

28. Ding, ding, ding... we hava winna!!

[stopdiggin]

7. prosecution tried to ram this through (twice)

the jury finally just got tired and said, " Screw it. Not doing it. "

My own take here is ambivalent coming from several different directions ... pretty clearly there was no intent to kill here (or really even do harm?) Simply an attempt to restrain and remove? On the other hand .. vigilantism should not be condoned, and this was clearly an assault. On the third hand .. is this kind of intervention sometimes necessary to protect the public? And finally .. there is the question of why the public should be subjected to menacing behavior in their everyday lives .. and who bears the responsibility there .. ?

[yagotme]

14. I believe if the intent was to have actually kill Neely, Penny could have done it much more quickly.

Seems the intent was more to detain, as a couple other passengers also assisted. A true "choke hold" wouldn't have taken over 6 minutes to work, as Neely still had a pulse when 1st responders arrived. I believe narcotics probably played a big part in this, also.

[The Grand Illuminist]

12. It was either that or...

Trump pardons him on day one.

[Seeking Serenity]

13. State prosecution. President can't pardon. That's the governor's call.

[MichMan]

17. Reminded me some of Jose Alba, the 61 year old immigrant NYC Bodega worker who stabbed an attacker in self defense

After initially charging him with murder and jailing him in Rikers, Bragg decided it would be better to drop the charges.

[moniss]

19. When you're choking someone you

know what you're doing to them. You are choking them. Says it right there in the description. Nobody survives being relentlessly choked for any real length of time. Usually a couple of minutes tops. He knew he was killing him.

[tRump4prison]

21. ameriKKKan justice

Rest in Power Jordan Neely

[totodeinhere]

22. If Penny were black and Neely were white

I think we know that the result would have been much different. Penny would be on his way to prison. Unfortunately we still have a long way to go to solve racial injustice in this country.

[AkFemDem]

31. If races were reversed people here

Would be much more unified in pointing out that Neely was a threat and that people have a right to ride public transportation without being accosted- and that NYC transit in particular has had some really scary incidents in recent years that justify people being wary. Penny would probably be called a citizen hero.

[elias7]

32. Speculation feeds prejudice. You can't know this.

there are plenty of black marines and plenty of crazy white people, and if the situation were reversed, we have no basis to claim the result would be different except to feed our own preconceptions.

[pfitz59]

23. The police are not always available to intervene

and Samaritans must act. Indifference and inaction are not always an option. In this case an inexperienced young 'hero' applied too much force. The jury weighed the case and decided he acted in good faith. Did he stop the dangerous crazy guy? Yes. Were other passengers protected by his actions? Yes. So, what else is there to consider?

[canuckledragger]

24. That he murdered someone while trying to be a 'hero'

[Tumbulu]

30. Clearly the jury did not come to that conclusion

The jury that spent a great deal of time on it.

I trust the jury.

[cadoman]

25. Black Life

[live love laugh]

29. Shame! Shame!