Daniel Penny celebrates not guilty verdict at NYC bar: 'It feels great'
NEW YORK - Daniel Penny, who was found not guilty in the NYC subway chokehold death trial against him, celebrated the verdict at a New York City bar.
FOX 5 NY has exclusive video of Penny leaving Stone Street Tavern in Lower Manhattan after a jury cleared him of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely’s 2023 death.
"Daniel, can you tell me how you're feeling about this?" FOX 5 NY's Richard Giacovas asks.
Penny, smiling, ignores the cameras as he is escorted out by his legal team.
His defense attorney Thomas Kenniff posted a photo to Instagram of a man who appears to be Penny holding a beer with his thumbs up. "Thank you!!!" the caption reads.
"It feels great," Kenniff told FOX 5 NY. "It's 18 months of weight on everybody's shoulders, most importantly Danny's, with the weight of this indictment on him, knowing he's been falsely accused for doing the right thing."
Daniel Penny found not guilty
Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran who used a deadly chokehold on homeless man Jordan Neely on the New York City subway last year, was found not guilty in a verdict delivered after days of jury deliberations and courtroom back-and-forth. FOX 5 NY's Richard Giacovas has the details.
Judge Jeanine Pirro just said on Fox News that she is getting an interview with Penny.
The verdict came after a more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed because the jury deadlocked on that count.
Penny, who had shown little expression during the trial, briefly smiled as the verdict was read. Both applause and anger erupted in the courtroom, and Neely's father and two supporters were told to leave after audibly reacting. Another person also left, wailing with tears.
The case arose from Jordan Neely’s May 2023 death and became a prism for differing views about public safety, valor and vigilantism. The case amplified many American fault lines, among them race, politics, crime, urban life, mental illness and homelessness. Neely was Black. Penny is white.