Jury in Daniel Penny trial tells judge they can't reach agreement on manslaughter charge

The jury in the trial of Daniel Penny told a judge Friday morning that it could not come to a unanimous decision on the top charge of manslaughter.

Penny is charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 2023 chokehold death of Jordan Neely. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge. He has pleaded not guilty.

Jurors, who have been deliberating since Tuesday afternoon, sent a note to Judge Maxwell Wiley stating that they have not been able to agree on a verdict for the manslaughter charge. Before they began deliberations, Wiley told the jury that it must come to a unanimous decision on that charge before it can be allowed to consider the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. They were also instructed to decide whether Penny’s actions caused Neely’s death and, if so, whether he had acted recklessly and in an unjustified manner.

Wiley told the jury that he would confer with defense attorneys and prosecutors before issuing further guidance.

Penny, a former Marine and architecture student, had been coming from class and was on his way to the gym on the afternoon of May 1, 2023, when he encountered an erratic Neely on a New York City subway.

Neely threw his jacket to the ground and loudly ranted about being hungry, thirsty and not caring about whether he died or went back to jail when he boarded the train, witnesses have testified. Penny put him in a chokehold that prosecutors said lasted six minutes and continued after the uptown F train arrived at its next stop, the Broadway-Lafayette station. Neely, 30, was homeless and had a history of mental illness. At the time of his death, he had synthetic marijuana — known as K2 — in his system.

Penny and his attorneys have said that he did not intend to harm Neely, only to restrain him until police arrived. His attorneys, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Rasier, also disputed the cause of Neely's death. A city medical examiner found that Neely died from compression to his neck as a result of the chokehold. A forensic pathologist hired by the defense testified that Neely died from the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, synthetic marijuana, schizophrenia and the struggle from being in Penny’s restraint.