By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-06 00:59:04 | Updated at 2024-12-26 03:54:50
2 weeks ago
The jury in Daniel Penny’s lightning-rod Manhattan manslaughter trial broke without reaching a verdict Thursday after asking again to revisit shocking footage of the fatal subway encounter during the third day of deliberations.
Jurors requested to re-watch a one-minute clip captured by a trembling high school student that showed the 26-year-old Marine veteran gripping Jordan Neely around the neck on the floor of a crowded F train in May 2023.
The brief clip, which was shot by a nervous Ivette Rosario, was shown for the first time during Penny’s trial as the high schooler testified she was terrified when Neely, a 30-year-old troubled homeless man, stormed onto the train and started ranting.
“I was very nervous, and I thought I was going to pass out because I was so nervous,” Rosario, now 19, told jurors when she took the stand in Manhattan Supreme Court last month.
For the second day in a row, the jury also asked to review the infamous six-minute clip shot by a Mexican journalist that captured Penny restraining Neely for several minutes — including after Neely appeared to stop moving on his own.
The harrowing video, filmed by Juan Alberto Vasquez, was played more than a dozen times inside the courtroom throughout the four-week trial.
Later during deliberations, the 12 jurors — seven women and five men — asked for the judge to clarify the legal definitions of “recklessness and negligence” as they weigh whether to convict Penny of manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide.
As part of their instructions, the jury has to consider whether Penny “recklessly” caused the death of Neely in order to find him guilty of manslaughter.
If the jury finds Penny not guilty of manslaughter, it will then weigh whether he’s guilty of criminally negligent homicide — which is when a person fails to perceive the risk of their actions but goes through with it anyway.
The jury started deliberations at about 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday after the weeks of testimony in the high-profile trial.
Penny, who cannot be convicted on both counts, has pleaded not guilty.
Defense attorneys have insisted that Penny’s actions were “fully justified” in order to protect fellow passengers from Neely, who witnesses said was menacing others and making threats before Penny took him down.
They maintain, too, that Neely died from a mix of schizophrenia, drug use, a genetic condition and the struggle with Penny.
Prosecutors argued during the trial — which involved testimony from 40 witnesses, including scared straphangers — that Penny was “criminally reckless” and went “way too far” while holding Neely down.
Penny faces up to 15 years behind bars if convicted of manslaughter — the top count.
