Manslaughter Charge Against Daniel Penny Dropped, Jury Still to Consider Criminally Negligent Homicide Charge

After the jury deadlocked twice in the case of Daniel Penny, who put Jordan Neely in a chokehold on the Lower Manhattan F train in May 2023, the prosecution dropped its manslaughter charge. 

For Context: Neely boarded the train and began saying he was ready to go to jail and “Someone’s going to die today!” He was unarmed and homeless at the time. Neely died after Penny put him in a chokehold for six minutes, in what Penny claims was self-defense.

The Jury: The jury was instructed to come to a unanimous verdict on the manslaughter charge before considering the lesser charge. The jury told the judge they were deadlocked, following nearly 20 hours of deliberation. If they cannot agree, the case will be declared a mistrial. The defense moved for a mistrial after the deadlock, but the prosecution agreed to put the manslaughter charge aside, hoping the jury can still convict on the criminally negligent homicide. On Friday, the judge told the jury to “Go home and think about something else,” before returning to deliberations on the negligence charge on Monday. The manslaughter charge carried a maximum sentence of 15 years; criminally negligent homicide carries a maximum sentence of four years.

How the Media Covered It: USA Today (Lean Left bias) emphasized that Neely was unarmed and screaming at passengers, and struggled with schizophrenia and drug abuse. The New York Post (Lean Right) focused more on the courtroom conversations preceding the dropped manslaughter charge.