Watch: Daniel Penny Speaks Out as He Celebrates Acquittal
Daniel Penny celebrated his not-guilty verdict on Monday by having a drink with his defense attorneys at a New York City bar.
A Manhattan jury found that the Marine Corps veteran was innocent of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway.
On May 1, 2023, Penny, 26, restrained Neely in a chokehold after he threatened to kill passengers on a subway train, according to witnesses.
The New York Post reported Monday that Penny was spotted with his lawyers, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser, at Stone Street Tavern in lower Manhattan’s financial district.
When asked how he was feeling by a Post reporter, Penny responded with a smile, “It’s great.”
Daniel Penny speaks to The Post following his not-guilty verdict https://t.co/ERxrpkAC9Y pic.twitter.com/ncUyudcxMb
— New York Post (@nypost) December 9, 2024
Kenniff affirmed, “It feels great. He’s finally got the justice he’s deserved.”
Penny then stepped away and allowed his attorney to handle the rest of the questioning.
Another person off camera asked Kenniff, “Were you surprised?”
“No. We think this should probably have happened on day one, but the important thing is that it happened,” he responded.
The Post reporter next asked, “Why do you think he was not guilty?”
Kenniff then pointed to his co-counsel Raiser to respond.
Daniel Penny celebrated the Not Guilty verdict with a beer at a local NYC bar. Good for him. pic.twitter.com/EavFEXyAg2
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 9, 2024
“He’s not guilty on a few different reasons. His actions were justified. He was trying to help people on that train, and he did,” Raiser began.
“And number two, he’s not responsible for the death because the death was caused by a lot of other factors that we tried to present with a lot of clarity,” he continued.
Raiser cited Neely’s abuse of K2 (synthetic marijuana), his sickle cell condition, and his paranoid schizophrenia, which the defense team’s medical expert testified to during the trial as the cause of death.
“I’m just glad the jury was able to truly evaluate that as a potential cause of death and that Danny was justified in the actions that he took,” the lawyer summarized.
Daniel Penny speaks to The Post following his not-guilty verdict https://t.co/6ZEOTQ8WQP pic.twitter.com/bVbxnAcrgO
— New York Post (@nypost) December 9, 2024
Last week, the jury deadlocked during deliberations, so on Friday, presiding Judge Maxwell T. Wiley dismissed the more serious manslaughter charge against Penny, which carried a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
That ruling left the criminally negligent homicide charge still in place. There is no minimum jail sentence for that charge, but the sentence can be up to four years.
Apparently, at least one juror who believed Penny was guilty of manslaughter had a change of heart over the weekend to allow Monday’s not-guilty verdict on the lesser offense, which had to be unanimous.
Penny still faces a wrongful death civil suit being brought by Neely’s father. A lower standard of guilt of preponderance of the evidence is required in civil cases versus proof beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal prosecutions.
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