Marine veteran Daniel Penny was acquitted by a Manhattan jury Monday in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely — a lightning-rod case that cast a light on the mayhem plaguing Big Apple subways.
Jurors cleared Penny, a 26-year-old Long Islander, of criminally negligent homicide after the caught-on-camera fatal encounter on an uptown F train last year sparked fierce debate about mental illness, public safety and vigilantism.
A suited-up Penny, who remained stone-faced for much of the four-week trial, broke out a huge smile as his not guilty verdict was read out — prompting both applause and anger inside the courtroom as the high-profile case came to an end
Over the course of the four-week trial, defense attorneys painted Penny as a hero who was “fully justified” when he took down Neely — a 30-year-old, troubled homeless man who witnesses said was menacing others and making threats — on an uptown F train on May 1, 2023.
They questioned, too, whether there was sufficient evidence that the chokehold caused Neely’s death — arguing he died from a mix of schizophrenia, drug use, a genetic condition and the struggle with the Marine vet.
News of the verdict, meanwhile, sparked an immediate reaction across the Big Apple — and the rest of the country — as some lawmakers claimed the DA’s office politicized the case and tried to turn Penny into a villain as crime spirals on the streets and underground.