A Manhattan jury has found Daniel Penny not guilty of criminal charges in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, an incident on a crowded subway that was captured on video and ignited intense debates about the city's mental health system and underground crime.
Jurors acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide, a charge that could have carried a prison sentence of up to four years, for Neely's death aboard an uptown F train in May 2023, according to The New York Post.
The manslaughter charge, the most serious allegation against Penny, was dismissed on Friday after jurors twice reported being unable to reach a unanimous decision.
On May 1, 2023, thirty-year-old street artist Jordan Neely – who struggled with mental illness, drug addiction and homelessness – boarded a subway in New York City. He began to act volatile, yelling at passengers, claiming he didn't care if he lived or died, according to witnesses, CNN reported.
His erratic behavior prompted fellow passenger Penny to grab Neely from behind and place him in a nearly six-minute chokehold recorded on cell phone video by witnesses, according to NewsNation.
Over the course of the seven-week trial, the jury heard testimony from passengers, police officers, and medical experts.
During closing arguments Monday, Penny's lawyers urged jurors to consider themselves in his position on the train. They characterized the manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges as a rush to judgment influenced by protests and media pressure, rather than by the evidence.
Prosecutors, while acknowledging Penny was justified in using some physical force, argued he went too far by maintaining the chokehold even after the train stopped and passengers disembarked.
