Former US Marine found not guilty in fatal New York subway choking, media report
World
Former US Marine found not guilty in fatal New York subway choking, media report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former US Marine sergeant who used a chokehold to restrain Jordan Neely, a homeless man, on a New York City subway car was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide on Monday in Neely's death, according to several media reports.
Daniel Penny, 26, has said he never intended to kill Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness, during their encounter on an uptown train on May 1, 2023.
A judge had dismissed a more serious charge, manslaughter in the second degree, against Penny after jurors emerged twice during their third day of deliberations on Friday to say they were divided on it.
Penny did not testify during the trial, which began in October.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office did not dispute that Neely was loud, angry and threatening as he boarded the train, shouting that he was hungry, thirsty and wanted to be sent back to jail.
But they told jurors that Penny, who grabbed Neely from behind with an arm around Neely's neck and brought him to the floor, used deadly physical force without justification and for far longer than necessary.
Dafna Yoran, an assistant district attorney, had said during closing arguments that Penny was warned by people around him about risks to Neely's life and intentionally ignored them.
"He didn't recognize that Mr. Neely, too, was a person," she said during her closing argument on Dec. 2. "He didn't care what happened to Mr. Neely."
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Penny continued to choke Neely on the floor of the subway car for nearly six minutes after the train pulled into the station and other passengers left the car, prosecutors said.
Penny's defense lawyers told jurors that Penny, a student on his way to a gym, acted out of alarm that Neely might hurt a woman and a child he was approaching. Neely was unarmed.
Lawyer Steven Raiser said his client held Neely "until he knew that he was no longer a threat" but he did not apply pressure on his airway during the last crucial moments.
