Daniel Penny, a former Marine who choked a fellow subway rider on an uptown F prepare final 12 months, was acquitted on a cost of criminally negligent murder on Monday, ending a case that had come to exemplify New York Metropolis’s post-pandemic struggles.
The jurors determined that Mr. Penny’s actions weren’t legal when he held the rider, Jordan Neely, in a chokehold as the 2 males struggled on the ground of a subway automotive on Could 1, 2023. Mr. Neely, who was homeless and had a historical past of psychological sickness, had strode by means of the subway automotive that afternoon, yelling at passengers and horrifying them, based on witnesses.
After the forewoman introduced the decision, the courtroom erupted, with some folks cheering the end result and others responding with anger.
Upon listening to the phrases “not responsible,” Mr. Penny’s lawyer, Thomas A. Kenniff, slapped his palm on the protection desk and turned to hug Mr. Penny, who had a big grin on his face. One other of his attorneys, Steven Raiser, stood and kissed his consumer on the cheek.
Mr. Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, started to lash out at supporters of Mr. Penny, and the choose requested him to depart the room.
The jurors had spent greater than three days attempting to come back to a unanimous resolution on whether or not Mr. Penny, 26, was responsible of manslaughter — the next cost — within the loss of life of Mr. Neely, 30. On Friday, the jurors despatched two notes to the choose overseeing the trial saying that they’d deadlocked.
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