The jury at Daniel Penny's trial in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely said Friday that it is unable to reach a verdict on the more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter in the incident.
The panel sent a note to the judge Friday morning to report that it is having trouble reaching a consensus that Penny "recklessly" caused Neely to die when he held him in a chokehold for six minutes after the homeless man reportedly shouted threats at passengers on the train, reports The New York Post.
The court has not declared the jury as being hung.
Penny's attorneys moved for a mistrial, pointing out that the jury is locked after it had deliberated for 20 hours over four days in a case that is not complex factually.
The judge, however, rejected that motion, ordering the jury instead to try to reach a consensus. According to reports, the jury is not permitted to consider a second charge, criminally negligent homicide, if it has not reached a unanimous decision the charge of manslaughter.
The judge also said a new trial may be needed on the second charge if the jury can't reach an agreement on the main charge.
According to witnesses, Neely had yelled out that "someone's going to die today!" on the subway, but prosecutors stressed that no witness testified that Neely had brandished a weapon, touched any passengers, or threatened any specific person.
They also pointed out that Neely was unarmed, and that police found that he only had a muffin in his pocket.
Penny's attorneys argued that the prosecution could not prove that the chokehold killed Neely.
The jury could also convict Penny on a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.
He faces up to 15 years in prison if he's convicted of manslaughter, or up to four years if he's convicted on the charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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