Judge Dismisses Manslaughter Charge in Daniel Penny Trial

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The judge in Daniel Penny’s trial for the death of Jordan Neely dismissed the second-degree manslaughter charge against him Friday after the jury twice said they were unable to reach an unanimous decision. 

The 12-person panel first said at around 11 a.m. that they could not come to a decision on the charge, and sent a second note to the court with a similar message about three hours later.

“Resume your deliberations with an open mind,” Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley told jurors after they sent the first note saying they were having trouble reaching a consensus on whether to convict Penny, 26, of “recklessly” causing Neely’s death by placing him in a six-minute chokehold in May 2023.

“I’m not asking any of you to violate your conscience,” Wiley said, reading what’s known as an “Allen” charge, an often-used judge’s instruction that urges jurors to reach a unanimous verdict.

The note prompted Penny’s defense attorney Thomas Kenniff to move for a mistrial.

“The jury has been deliberating for roughly 20 hours over four days on what is, in many ways, a factually uncomplicated case as far as this is an event that transpired for minutes on video,” Kenniff told the judge.

Penny faced up to 15 years had he been convicted of second-degree manslaughter.

He became a figure of nationwide debate last year when social media videos surfaced of him holding Neely in a chokehold on the floor of a Manhattan F train. Neely died following the struggle, and the city medical examiner pointed to Penny’s hold as the cause of his death.

Penny’s legal team claims that the architecture student was trying to protect his fellow subway riders when Neely boarded the train in an erratic state, threw his jacket on the floor and started shouting threats.