{"id":2377943,"date":"2024-12-09T11:23:02","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T16:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prosecutors-use-dubious-move-to-try-to-lock-up-daniel-penny\/"},"modified":"2024-12-09T11:24:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T16:24:54","slug":"prosecutors-use-dubious-move-to-try-to-lock-up-daniel-penny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prosecutors-use-dubious-move-to-try-to-lock-up-daniel-penny\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors Use Dubious Move To Try To Lock Up Daniel Penny"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprosecutors-use-dubious-move-to-try-to-lock-up-daniel-penny%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2377943&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Jury deliberations will continue on Monday in the case against Daniel Penny,who is facing\u200d charges\u200b following an incident on a New York \u2063City subway in May 2023. \u2063Penny intervened to protect passengers from Jordan Neely,\u200b a man who was\u2062 reportedly threatening\u200c violence. Neely&#8217;s aggressive behavior\u2064 prompted Penny to subdue him, which afterward led to Neely&#8217;s death. Penny is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, the jury indicated that thay were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, prompting Fox \u2062news legal \u2064contributor Andy McCarthy to criticize Judge Maxwell Wiley for not declaring a mistrial, \u2062as required by state law in cases of \u200ddeadlock. Instead, Wiley issued an Allen Charge, urging the jurors to continue deliberating, which Penny&#8217;s lawyers\u200c deemed coercive.After further deliberation, the jury again reported \u200dtheir inability to reach a unanimous decision.<\/p>\n<p>In\u2064 response to this\u200d deadlock,\u2062 prosecutors decided to drop the manslaughter charge to focus on securing a conviction for the\u2064 lesser charge. Though, \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">prior jury instructions stated<\/a> that a conviction for \u2062the more serious charge\u2063 precluded consideration of the lesser charge, raising concerns about the integrity of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/constitutional-crisis-or-political-war\/\" title=\"Constitutional Crisis or Political War\">legal proceedings<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Jury deliberations will resume Monday in the case against Daniel Penny all because city prosecutors are using dubious legal maneuvers to keep Penny&rsquo;s case alive &mdash; and the judge is going along with it.<\/p>\n<p>Penny is <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/06\/entire-jury-should-have-acquitted-penny-immediately-not-deadlocked\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">on trial<\/a> for protecting passengers on a New York City subway in May 2023 when a belligerent, out-of-control thug, Jordan Neely, taunted passengers that he was &ldquo;prepared to go to jail for life&rdquo; and was &ldquo;willing to die.&rdquo; Neely also said &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to kill you.&rdquo; Penny he subdued Neely to protect those on the train. One witness later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/witness-jordan-neely-chokehold-death-calls-daniel-penny-hero\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> that Penny saved her life.<\/p>\n<p>Penny was charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter and a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, jurors informed the court they could not reach a unanimous decision. Fox News legal contributor Andy McCarthy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/andrew-mccarthy-prosecutor-judge-make-mockery-justice-trial-subway-hero-daniel-penny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> Judge Maxwell Wiley &ldquo;should have declared a mistrial.&rdquo; State law states that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nycourts.gov\/judges\/cji\/1-General\/CJI2d.Deadlocked_Jury.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">without a unanimous verdict<\/a> a mistrial should be declared. Instead, Wiley gave the jurors an Allen Charge, which instructs jurors who are deadlocked to try and reach a unanimous decision. <\/p>\n<p>McCarthy argues he believes anything other than a mistrial declaration would mean &ldquo;browbeat[ing] the jury into a conviction.&rdquo; Penny&rsquo;s lawyers made a similar charge, arguing the charge was coercive, but jurors went back to deliberate. The jury once again came back and informed the court they could not reach a unanimous decision.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, a mistrial should have been declared. But prosecutors dropped the manslaughter charge against Penny in order to attempt to secure a conviction on the second charge.<\/p>\n<p>The original <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/innercitypress\/status\/1865122998392328527\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">jury instructions said<\/a> that should the jury find Penny guilty of manslaughter in the second degree, then they should not consider the second charge. The instructions added: &ldquo;If you find the defendant not guilty of [manslaughter in the second degree],for the reason that the People have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not justified, then, you must not consider count 2, criminally negligent homicide, and you must also find the defendant not guilty of that count.&rdquo; Jurors were further instructed to consider the second charge if they found Penny not guilty on count 1 &ldquo;for some reason other than the lack of justification.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In short, nothing in the jury instructions indicates the jury should move to deliberations on Count 2 if the jury could not agree on a unanimous verdict on the first count. <\/p>\n<p>But this is where the legal gymnastics come in. The prosecution, perhaps seeing that a mistrial was to be declared and that they would have no conviction on either count, asked the court to dismiss the manslaughter charge. It&rsquo;s a dubious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jim-jordan-announces-plans-to-make-it-easier-to-break-up-big-tech\/\" title=\"Jim Jordan Announces Plans To Make It Easier To Break Up Big Tech\">legal maneuver<\/a> that sidesteps criminal procedure because it would permit the jury to consider the second charge even though the original jury instructions did not instruct jurors to consider the second charge if they could not reach a verdict on the first. <\/p>\n<p>Even Wiley expressed doubt about whether the tactic was &ldquo;consistent with NYS law,&rdquo; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/innercitypress\/status\/1865125862107988076\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matthew Russell Lee<\/a> of the Inner City Press. Penny&rsquo;s lawyers argued such a decision would &ldquo;encourage prosecutors to over-charge in the grand jury, with the option of withdrawing if hung, under coercion&rdquo; and that going along with the request could compromise the verdict. A compromised verdict is when jurors agree on a verdict &mdash; despite their true beliefs &mdash; to avoid a mistrial.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The law is clear that compromised verdicts are to be avoided,&rdquo; Penny&rsquo;s lawyer Thomas Kenniff told the court, according to the New York Post. &ldquo;I am not aware of any case where this has been permitted.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Wiley acknowledged, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/12\/06\/us-news\/daniel-penny-trial-judge-agrees-to-drop-top-manslaughter-count-after-jury-deadlocks-twice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York Post<\/a>, that &ldquo;the defense has correctly stated what the law is but the DA&rsquo;s proposal would eliminate the issue that you are citing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But Wiley said he was willing to &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/12\/06\/us-news\/daniel-penny-trial-judge-agrees-to-drop-top-manslaughter-count-after-jury-deadlocks-twice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">take a chance<\/a>&rdquo; and let the jury consider the second count.<\/p>\n<p>When Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran offered Assistant District Attorney Steven Yu to explain their position, Wiley <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/innercitypress\/status\/1865133126143352926\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> told them is wouldn&rsquo;t be necessary and that dismissing the manslaughter count would resolve the issue. <\/p>\n<p>When Wiley expressed trepidation over what he would tell the jury, Yoran told him to tell the jury &ldquo;only that it&rsquo;s dismissed&rdquo; and not that it is an acquittal, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/innercitypress\/status\/1865134513363308954\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to Lee.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with Penny&rsquo;s future on the line, a judge is willing to &ldquo;take a chance&rdquo; on a legal maneuver that only benefits the prosecution. If this blatant manipulation of the legal process stands, it could set a dangerous precedent for future cases, allowing prosecutors to railroad defendants in pursuit of a conviction at all costs.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jury deliberations will continue Monday in Daniel Penny&#8217;s case due to questionable legal tactics by prosecutors, with the judge&#8217;s approval<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2377944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-08-at-10.39.39-PM-e1733715699702-1024x577.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[33010,42466,46412,33579,5169],"class_list":["post-2377943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-criminal-justice","tag-daniel-penny","tag-legal-tactics","tag-news-update","tag-prosecutors"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-08-at-10.39.39-PM-e1733715699702-1024x577.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2377943"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2377947,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377943\/revisions\/2377947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2377944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2377943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2377943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2377943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}