Daniel Penny jury collapses without verdict in NYC subway chokehold case

Jurors broke without reaching a verdict in the Manhattan murder trial of Daniel Penny on Wednesday as they asked to re-watch key testimony and video of the shocking encounter from the city doctor who performed Jordan Neely’s autopsy.

As Deliberations entered second dayA Manhattan jury asked to re-watch a six-minute clip shot by a Mexican journalist that showed the 26-year-old Marine veteran restraining Neely, a distraught homeless man, on a crowded F train subway train.

Jurors also demanded reconsideration Bodycam footage of NYPD officers EMS arrived at the scene and tried to revive Neely, 30, while watching video of the Penny’s compound interrogation interview with detectives in the wake of the May 2023 fatal encounter.

“I wasn’t trying to hurt him. “I’m just trying to stop him from hurting anybody else,” Penny told two detectives during a videotaped interview shown to jurors. “That’s what we’re taught in the Marine Corps.”

Later, the 12 jurors – seven women and five men – also asked to hear a portion again. medical examiner’s testimony When defense attorneys cross-examined him, they questioned his determination that Neely died from strangulation.

Dr. Cynthia Harris testified that “no toxicology results could have changed my opinion” – even though Neely had “enough fentanyl in his system to kill an elephant.”

Defense attorneys have said Neely — whose outburst on a crowded train terrified straphangers — died from a mix of schizophrenia, drug use, a genetic condition and conflict with Penny.

Meanwhile, prosecutors argued that Penny was “criminally reckless” and had gone “too far” when arresting Neely.

Penny, who sat stone-faced in a dark blue suit inside the courtroom as the jury continued to consider charges Wednesday, has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter by criminal negligence.

If convicted on the top count, he faces up to 15 years in prison. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has not said whether his office will seek prison time if Penny is found guilty.

Jurors began deliberations at about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday after a four-week trial in which they heard from more than 40 witnesses.