• Jurors in Daniel Penny trial tell judge they're deadlocked on manslaugh

    From Leroy N. Soetoro@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 6 21:19:52 2024
    XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, nyc.politics, talk.politics.guns
    XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.nationalism.white

    https://nypost.com/2024/12/06/us-news/jurors-deadlocked-in-daniel-penny- manslaughter-trial/

    Jurors at Daniel Penny’s trial in the caught-on-camera subway chokehold
    death of Jordan Neely said they were still struggling to reach a verdict
    on the top charge of manslaughter Friday — even after a Manhattan judge
    told them too go back and keep trying.

    The 12-person panel first said at around 11 a.m. that they could not come
    to a decision on the charge, and sent a second note to the court with a
    similar message about three hours later.

    “Resume your deliberations with an open mind,” Manhattan Supreme Court
    Justice Maxwell Wiley told jurors after they sent the first note saying
    they were having trouble reaching a consensus on whether to convict Penny,
    26, of “recklessly” causing Neely’s death by placing him in a six-minute chokehold in May 2023.

    “I’m not asking any of you to violate your conscience,” Wiley said,
    reading what’s known as an “Allen” charge, an often-used judge’s
    instruction that urges jurors to reach a unanimous verdict.

    “Be flexible. Be willing to change your position,” the judge added.

    It was not immediately clear Friday whether the jury, if it fails to reach
    a verdict on manslaughter, will consider the lesser count of criminally negligent homicide.

    Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran urged the judge to let the jury consider the lower charge if it can’t come to an agreement on the
    manslaughter rap, while Penny’s attorneys pushed for a mistrial.

    “It would be a crazy result to have a hung jury just because they can’t
    move on to the second count,” Yoran told the judge.

    After being sent back into the jury room to keep deliberating, the panel
    sent another note minutes later asking the judge to clarify the term “reasonable person” — as they decide whether Penny, 26, was justified in placing Neely, 30, in the chokehold.

    To acquit him on justification grounds, the jury will have to decide that
    if the Marine veteran used deadly physical force, it was necessary for him
    to do so to defend himself and others on the subway — and whether a
    “reasonable person” in Penny’s shoes would have acted the same way.

    “Ultimately what a reasonable person is is up to you to decide,” the judge said.

    “Hope that helps,” he added, before sending them back to the jury room to deliberate.

    Jurors have been deliberating since early Tuesday afternoon.

    Penny’s lawyers have said the Marine veteran and aspiring architect was justified in protecting passengers from a man who witnesses said yelled, “Someone’s going to die today!” and who said he was ready to go to jail
    after boarding the uptown F train.

    But prosecutors have stressed that no witness testified that Neely
    threatened anyone specifically, touched anyone, or brandished a weapon.
    Police later found only a muffin in his pocket.

    Penny’s attorneys have also argued that there’s no proof beyond a
    reasonable doubt that the chokehold is what caused his death.

    The jury is weighing whether to convict Penny of second-degree
    manslaughter for “recklessly” causing Neely’s death by keeping him in the chokehold despite knowing that he might die after nearly all of the
    frightened passengers had left the train car at the Broadway-Lafayette
    station.

    They could also convict him of the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide if they find that Penny failed to identify the risk that his
    chokehold could kill the troubled homeless man, but that he should have
    known that Neely could have died.

    The panel could clear Penny entirely if it finds that the prosecutors have
    not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that his actions were not justified.

    Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the manslaughter
    charge, or up to four years behind bars if convicted on the less serious
    count.


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