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https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/12/09/penny-verdict-chokehold-death- trial-jordan-neely-subway-2/

Daniel Penny was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide Monday
in the chokehold killing of Jordan Neely on a Manhattan F train � bringing closure in the polarizing case that provoked heated debates about
vigilantism, mental illness and subway safety.

The verdict came after Justice Maxwell Wiley on Friday dismissed the top
charge of manslaughter at prosecutors� request after jurors said they
couldn�t unanimously agree on it. That allowed the panel to consider the
lesser charge, carrying a maximum of four years in prison, as opposed to
15.

In a phone call with the Daily News, Penny�s lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, said
his client was �elated.�

�Justice has finally been served, and Danny has gotten the acquittal that
he knew was coming the last 18 months,� Kenniff said, adding Penny was
�elated� to �finally not to be living under the weight of false
accusations and having his honor diminished by this misguided indictment.�

Protesters outside the court who�d been calling for Penny�s conviction
could be heard from the 13th-floor courtroom shouting, �No justice! No
peace!�

Neely�s father, Andre Zachery, addressed the media surrounded by family members, leaders of the New York chapter of the Black Lives Matter
movement, and Gwen Carr, the mother of slain Staten Island man Eric
Garner, who was killed in a department-banned police chokehold in 2014.

�It hurts. It really, really hurts. What are we gonna do, people? What�s
gonna happen to us now?� Zachery said. �Come on, people. Let�s do
something about this.�

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who heads the National Action Network, issued a
statement condemning the verdict.

�Jordan Neely�s life was brutally taken away because of unnecessary vigilantism,� Sharpton said. �This kind of behavior was inexcusable 40
years ago when Bernhard Goetz opened fire in a subway car, and it remained
the case more than a year ago when Daniel Penny took Jordan�s life. Jordan
was in the middle of a mental health crisis, but instead of being offered
a helping hand, he got an arm around his neck.�

The Manhattan Supreme Court jury of seven women and five men got the case
on Tuesday and made several requests during deliberations. They asked to
review testimony from the city medical examiner who performed Neely�s
autopsy, review footage of the encounter and its aftermath, and rehear
various legal definitions.

The prosecution portrayed Penny as someone who may have initially acted
with good intent when Neely got on the F train he was riding, acting
menacingly toward those onboard. But they argued he crossed the line into criminality by holding onto Neely for far too long until he�d choked the
life out of him.

Penny�s defense painted him as a good Samaritan being punished for trying
to help his fellow New Yorkers in a frightening moment. They sought to
convince jurors that the chokehold didn�t kill Neely but rather that his
poor mental and physical health caused his death.

The case garnered national attention after footage of the chokehold
incident went viral. In the early days of the presidential primary
campaign season, Penny became a right-wing cause c�l�bre, pulling in
millions of dollars toward his legal defense and words of support from GOP candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The nearly two-week delay between Neely�s death and Penny�s arrest saw
civil rights protesters take to the city�s streets and subway tracks to
protest the unaccounted-for killing of a poor and unarmed Black man in
public. Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at Neely�s funeral, telling mourners, �A boy on a train is screaming for help, and somebody comes up
from behind and claims self-defense.�

Zachery, Neely�s father, filed a civil suit against Penny during
deliberations last week. His attorney, Donte Mills, said they would
continue to seek accountability for the chokehold in civil court.

�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, ask them if they�re okay. That�s how we
help each other,� Mills said, reacting to the verdict. �Because we can�t
rely on the system to do it for us.�

Penny, 26, of Suffolk County, L.I., served for four years in the Marines
and was studying architecture and working as a barback in Brooklyn at the
time of the incident.

Neely, 30, who was homeless and experiencing untreated mental illness and
drug addiction, grew up in New York and New Jersey. His mother was
brutally murdered when he was 14, which his family has said derailed him.
When he was stable, he found joy in dancing to Michael Jackson�s music for
New Yorkers.

The lives of the two men, both standing at 6 feet and 1 inch tall,
collided at around 2:25 p.m. on the afternoon of Monday, May 1, 2023.

Penny boarded the train in Brooklyn and was going to the gym near the
Flatiron building. Neely got on at the Second Ave. station, threw down his jacket, and began screaming shortly after the doors closed.

Eight passengers who testified at the trial said Neely said something to
the effect of being ready to die and go back to jail, alarming them. Three
said he used the words �kill� or �die,� in reference to himself or others.

A young mother who was on the train with her son did not recall Neely descending on them and saying, �I will kill,� as the defense stated at the start of the trial. Nobody testified that he put his hands on anyone or directed his threats at someone specific.

Penny quickly intervened, wrapping his arm around Neely�s neck and taking
him down to the floor from behind, according to his defense and witness testimony. Within around 30 seconds, the train reached the next stop, Broadway-Lafayette, where the two men remained in a struggle on the floor,
and passengers fled to the platform.

Prosecutors argued Penny�s actions became criminal at that point when he continued to subdue Neely in a chokehold for almost six minutes until
Neely passed out, never to regain consciousness.

Two men aided Penny � Eric Gonzalez, 39, a room manager at a casino, who
had been waiting on the platform when the train pulled into the station,
and a man from Germany, who was on the train and refused to cooperate with either side or return to the U.S. to testify.

In a nearly five-minute video shot by independent journalist Juan Alberto Vasquez, which catapulted the incident into the national spotlight, Penny
is seen with his arm gripped around Neely�s neck and his legs wrapped
around his body on the stalled train.

Neely raises his left arm, and Gonzalez holds it down. Neely then raises
his right arm and taps the leg of the German tourist, appearing to motion
for help. The tourist then holds down Neely�s right arm. Gonzalez begins holding down both of Neely�s arms, the tourist now holding his shoulder,
and Neely begins to squirm with greater effort as Penny tightens his grip around his neck.

In his testimony, Penny�s former martial arts trainer in the Marines,
Joseph Caballer, said he had appeared to apply the chokehold technique
he�d been taught incorrectly.

The situation intensifies, and the men roll over. Neely starts kicking his
legs to break free. About three minutes into the video, Neely stops
moving.

Witness Larry Goodson, 61, is then heard telling the men they should let
go. Gonzalez insists Penny is �not squeezing no more.�

�You gotta let him go. My wife is ex-military. You going to kill him now,� Goodson says in the video, warning that if Neely defecated himself,
�that�s it.�

Within a few seconds, Penny and Gonzalez let up. Neely�s body is limp.

Police and medics soon arrived, failed to revive Neely, and brought him to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. On police-worn camera footage, Penny is seen telling officers at the scene he �just put him
out.� Later, he willingly sat for questioning with detectives at the Fifth Precinct stationhouse.

�I was on my phone like listening to music. I wasn�t paying attention. He
was just a crackhead; you know what I mean?� Penny told the cops about
Neely getting on the train. �I felt the need that to, you know, step in
because there�s women, children on the, on the train. I�m sure you�ll,
there�s ladies there that, that�ll vouch for me.�

When he testified on Nov. 12, Gonzalez said he told Penny during the altercation that he could let go of Neely�s neck but that Penny did not. Gonzalez also admitted that he initially lied to authorities � claiming
he�d been on the train the whole time and that Neely assaulted him and was breathing when he left the scene � out of fear he�d face charges.

The jury was asked to draw starkly different conclusions from the
evidence.

Penny�s lawyers challenged the New York City medical examiner�s
determination that Neely died as a result of the chokehold, proposing his mental illness and drug issues could have been the root. They focused much
of their defense on arguing that his actions were justified.

�Jordan was on a collision course with himself. The consequences of Danny failing to act may very well have been the trial of Jordan Neely for
hurting or killing someone on that train,� Steven Raiser said in his
summation.

�This case is about a broken system. A broken system that does not help
our mentally ill or our unhoused. In fact, it is that broken system that
led us, that is interwoven into the very fabric of this case.�

The prosecution, in turn, said passengers� fear of Neely was valid but
that Penny did not need to use deadly physical force to address it � or
subdue the unarmed Neely once everyone was off the train.

�[The] law is very proscribed. It is very narrow, very precise to make
sure that people only use deadly physical force against each other when it
is absolutely necessary, and for as long as it is absolutely necessary,� Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said Monday.

�You obviously cannot kill someone because they are crazy and ranting and looking menacing. No matter what it is that they are saying.�

This story will be updated.

Originally Published: December 9, 2024 at 11:33 AM EST


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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