A manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny was dismissed Friday after a Manhattan jury couldn’t agree whether the former Marine was guilty in the death of Jordan Neely. The judge in the case, Maxwell Wiley, allowed prosecutors to have the charge dropped, while Penny’s attorneys had wanted Wiley to declare a mistrial. Penny still faces a charge of criminally negligent homicide for putting Neely in a six-minute chokehold on the New York City subway in May 2023, in an incident largely caught on cameras. Penny’s attorneys argued their client was justified in using the chokehold because witnesses had claimed Neely’s behavior was threatening, and that he had told passengers, “Somebody’s going to die today.” Prosecutors, meanwhile, noted that no witnesses had testified that Neely brandished a weapon or touched anybody, and that Penny kept Neely in the chokehold long after other passengers left the train. The manslaughter charge had carried a 15-year maximum prison sentence; for the lesser charge, Penny could face up to four years if convicted. The jury of seven women and five men will deliberate further on Monday.
