CULTURE WARS CASE

Daniel Penny Acquitted in Subway Manslaughter Case

The former Marine was facing criminal charges over the chokehold death of Jordan Neely.

Daniel Penny was acquitted of all criminal charges after the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on the subway—a case that sparked a debate on New York City’s mental health resources and public safety. The jury acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide, after throwing out the manslaughter charge on Friday when the jury twice couldn’t come to a unanimous verdict. The charge of criminally negligent homicide would’ve put Penny behind bars for four years; the manslaughter charge had a maximum of 15 years. Penny, a former Marine, put Neely, who was homeless at the time, in a chokehold for six minutes after Neely said, “someone is going to die today,” in May 2023. No witness testified that Neely touched or made any move towards another passenger, though many testified that they were afraid of Neely during his rant. He did not have a weapon on him. Prosecutors noted that Penny kept Neely in the chokehold even after the passengers had left the train. But jurors sided with Penny’s defense—that he was justified in protecting his fellow passengers in the face of an erratic homeless man, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and previously had over two dozen encounters with the police. The defense also questioned if it was the chokehold that killed Neely.