Daniel Penny found not guilty in NYC subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely
NEW YORK — Daniel Penny has been found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway car in 2023.
Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
The judge dismissed the manslaughter charge Friday after jurors said they could not come to a unanimous decision. The jury could only consider the negligent homicide charge if Penny was cleared of manslaughter.
About 15 protesters lined up outside the courthouse Monday, chanting “justice for Jordan Neely.” Inside, Penny’s defense team asked for a mistrial and once again was denied.
Word of the verdict came after jurors deliberated for more than 20 hours. Penny appeared to smile, as his attorneys hugged each other.
CBS News New York’s Alice Gainer was inside the courtroom, where she reported chaos unfolded after the verdict was announced. Some cheered in support of Penny, while Neely’s father had to leave the room because he stood up and was swearing.
“Our call to action is to take care of each other. We can’t rely on outside people. If we see someone asking for food, we have to take the responsibility to give it to them. If we see someone cold, to give them a coat. If we see someone going through something, to ask them if they’re OK,” Donte Mills, attorney for the Neely family, said in a news conference outside the courthouse. “That’s how we help each other, because we can’t rely on the system to do it for us.”
Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, also spoke outside the courthouse, saying, “no one deserves to be choked to death.”
Penny faced a maximum possible sentence of 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge, or four years on the negligent homicide charge. There was no minimum sentence.
About the charges
In order to have been convicted of manslaughter, prosecutors had to prove:
- Penny caused Neely’s death
- That he did so recklessly
- That he was not justified
In order to be convicted of criminally negligent homicide, prosecutors had to prove:
- Penny caused Neely’s death
- That he did so with criminal negligence
- That he was not justified
The death of Jordan Neely
Police and witnesses said Neely, 30, boarded an F train in SoHo on May 1, 2023 and began shouting, throwing things and making threats. Penny, a passenger on the train, approached Neely from behind and tried to restrain him.
Video shows Penny holding Neely in a chokehold on the floor of the train for several minutes until Neely stopped moving. After police arrived, officers administered Narcan to Neely, performed CPR and used an AED, but were unable to revive him. Neely was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said Neely did not have any weapons on him.
A medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide three days later, with the cause as compression of the neck. Toxicology reports showed Neely had synthetic marijuana in his system when he died.
Neely was a street performer and Michael Jackson impersonator who was experiencing homelessness and had struggled with mental illness after his mother was murdered in 2007.
Video of Penny holding Neely in the chokehold was widely circulated online. Neely’s death sparked protests across New York City, with many raising concerns about the need for better mental health care in the city, and Neely’s family called for Penny’s arrest.
Penny turned himself in on May 12, 2023, and was initially charged with second-degree manslaughter and released on $100,000 bail. He was arraigned in June and pleaded not guilty to criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter.
Penny, a Marine veteran, defended his actions, saying he was trying to protect other passengers on the train by restraining Neely.
NYC subway chokehold death trial
In late October 2024, a 12-person jury and four alternates were selected and sworn in. They included seven women and five men, with at least seven White people, one Hispanic person, one Filipino person, one Black person and one person of Middle Eastern descent.
The trial began Nov. 1.
The prosecution argued in their opening statements that Penny, though he had good intentions, recklessly used excessive force without trying any other means of deescalating the situation. The defense, meanwhile, argued Penny was protecting other passengers and there was no other way to deescalate due to Neely’s behavior.
Jurors heard testimony from multiple witnesses, including police officers, MTA employees, passengers on the train and a bystander who helped Penny restrain Neely. Penny’s Marine Corps martial arts instructor and the medical examiner who performed Neely’s autopsy also took the stand. The defense called Penny’s mother and platoon sergeants as character witnesses, along with a forensic pathologist who said he disagreed with the medical examiner’s cause of death.
Jurors began their deliberations last Tuesday. They sent two notes back to the judge. The first requested a readback of part of the judge’s instructions. The second note asked the judge if they could return for deliberations Wednesday, which is a day they would normally have had off. The judge approved that request.
Wednesday morning, jurors sent another note, asking to see a video compilation of police bodycams from the incident, as well as footage of Penny’s police station interview. Jurors also asked for readback of the medical examiner’s cross-examination.
Friday morning, on the fourth day of deliberations, they sent a note to the judge indicating they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on his manslaughter charge.
