NEW YORK (AP) — Daniel Penny, the veteran who used a chokehold on subway rider Jordan Neely, has been acquitted in Neely's death.
A Manhattan jury delivered the verdict in a tense courtroom, clearing Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely’s death last year. The verdict was unanimous after four days of deliberation.
A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed earlier in deliberations because the jury deadlocked on that count. Both charges were felonies and carried the possibility of prison time.
"The jury carefully deliberated for four days. They requested readbacks of testimony and asked for video footage to re-watch, as well as written definitions of the law," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. "The jury has now spoken."
Protesters could be heard all morning chanting outside the courtroom. After the verdict was delivered, Neely's father Andre Zachary was escorted out of the courtroom after shouting at Penny.
Activists shouted at Penny as he was led away from the courtroom. Earlier Monday, Penny's lawyers filed a motion for a mistrial given the noise of the protesters but were denied.
Penny, 26, gripped Jordan Neely around the neck for about six minutes in a chokehold that other subway passengers partially captured on video.
Penny’s lawyers said he was protecting himself and other subway passengers from a volatile, mentally ill man who was making alarming remarks and gestures. The defense also disputed a city medical examiner’s finding that the chokehold killed Neely.
Prosecutors said Penny reacted far too forcefully to someone he perceived as a peril, not a person.
The case has also engendered strong reactions from New Yorkers in support of both Penny and Neely. Many celebrated Penny's acquittal, including Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
"I was confident from day one Daniel Penny was a hero, not a villain," Blakeman said in a statement.
In the minutes after the verdict was announced, disapproval for the acquittal mounted amongst New York City's elected officials. The city council's Black, Latino and Asian Progressive Caucuses on Monday called the verdict a failure.
“Jordan Neely was failed by the city’s social service system for years. He was failed by our city when Daniel Penny put him in a chokehold on the subway. And today, Jordan was failed once again, this time by the city’s justice system," representatives of the caucuses said in a statement.
State Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest said the outcome falls short of bringing "justice or accountability."
"Jordan Neely’s death was a tragedy that laid bare the deep failures in our city and state," she said. "[The verdict] brings pain and frustration to all who know that Jordan’s life mattered."
