New York Subway Chokehold Case: Jury Finds Daniel Penny Not Guilty
On December 9, 2024, in Manhattan, New York City, New York, a jury found Daniel Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the subway death of Jordan Neely. Penny, a former Marine, put Neely in a chokehold aboard a northbound F train in Manhattan on May 1, 2023, and Neely died.
Neely was 30 years old and a homeless street performer. At trial, prosecutors introduced medical records, videos, body-camera footage and testimony from more than 30 witnesses, including from the city's Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Penny had faced charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. After four days of deliberation, jurors told the court on Friday that they could not agree on the more serious manslaughter count; prosecutors then moved to dismiss that count, Judge Maxwell Wiley granted the motion, and the jury deliberated only on the lesser count before returning a not-guilty verdict on Monday morning. The lesser charge carried a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement after the verdict that his office had followed the facts and the evidence from beginning to end: a grand jury voted to indict, and the office carefully presented the case to a trial jury. "The jury has now spoken. At the Manhattan D.A.'s Office, we deeply respect the jury process, and we respect their verdict," he said.
Bragg also condemned the hate and threats directed during the trial at the career prosecutors on the case and their family members, saying the prosecutors had dedicated decades of their lives to public service and to the safety of Manhattan, and that such conduct was "simply unacceptable, and everyone, no matter your opinion on this case, should condemn it." He thanked the NYPD and Judge Wiley, and the jurors who took time out of their lives to diligently evaluate the evidence. (Source: Manhattan District Attorney's Office)
Source: Manhattan District Attorney's Office
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于纽约市中心街100号的纽约县刑事法院大楼，本案在此审理。Ajay Suresh 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The New York County Criminal Court building at 100 Centre Street in New York City, where the case was tried. Photo by Ajay Suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
