×

Jury deliberations begin in veteran Daniel Penny’s trial over using chokehold on Jordan Neely

NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors began deliberating and soon revisited some of their legal instructions Tuesday in the trial of a military veteran charged with using a fatal chokehold to subdue a New York subway rider whose behavior was alarming other passengers.

The anonymous jury is weighing manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges in the death of Jordan Neely, a troubled street performer who was homeless. The veteran, Daniel Penny, has pleaded not guilty and maintains that his actions were justified.

In a reflection of the complexities of the closely watched case, the jury asked within the first 75 minutes of deliberations to rehear Judge Maxwell Wiley’s instructions on justification defenses and on the definitions of the crimes charged. After the re-reading and 90 more minutes of deliberations, jurors headed home for the day without reaching a verdict.

Penny, 26, has said he was protecting fellow subway riders and intended only to restrain Neely and hold him for police, not to hurt him. Prosecutors say the Marine veteran used far too much force for too long when he gripped Neely by the neck for about six minutes.

The case has animated debate about public safety, societal responses to mental illness and homelessness, the line between self-defense and aggression, and the role of race in all of it.

The 30-year-old Neely, who was Black, sometimes entertained passersby with Michael Jackson impersonations but also struggled with depression, schizophrenia and drug use after his mother was strangled during his teen years. Penny, who is white, was a college architecture student who served four years in the Marines.

Wiley told jurors Tuesday that if they convict Penny of manslaughter, they won’t be asked for a verdict on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. If they decide he’s not guilty of manslaughter, they’ll consider the second charge.

Manslaughter requires proving that a defendant recklessly caused another person’s death. The standard entails, among other things, consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that an action will be deadly.

Criminally negligent homicide, on the other hand, involves engaging in serious “blameworthy conduct” while not perceiving such a risk.

Both charges are felonies. Neither carries mandatory prison time, but both carry the possibility of it — up to 15 years for manslaughter, or four for criminally negligent homicide.

Deliberations will resume Wednesday.

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today