Daniel Penny celebrates not guilty verdict and sends message to his fans

Daniel Penny celebrated his court victory at the Stone Street Tavern in Manhattan's Financial District on Monday afternoon.

The 26-year-old was seen at the pub with his high-powered legal team, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, who were praised by Justice Maxwell Wiley for their excellent 'lawyering' during the trial.

A handful of other men who were also part of Penny's inner circle during the trial were also present.

Penny addressed his supporters briefly at the pub, telling one woman he 'appreciates' the unwavering backing he received.

'I appreciate it,' he said, nodding and smiling at the woman.

Daniel Penny's lawyers have offered insights into why he was found not guilty by a jury of 12 on Monday.

Steven Raiser said there were two key reasons his client walked free: cause of death and justification.

'He was absolutely justified,' Raiser said. 'He was trying to help people and he did.'

The state needed to prove that Penny was unjustified when he intervened on the train.

Separately, Raiser said: 'He's not responsible for the death because the death was caused by a lot of other factors... the K2 abuse, the sickling crisis and cardiac issues.

'Not to mention the paranoid schizophrenia,' he added.

Thomas Kenniff also weighed in, saying he was glad Penny 'finally got the justice he deserved.'

'We think this should have happened probably on day one, but the important thing is that it happened.'

Kenniff said he, his team and Penny's supporters were 'savoring the outcome.'

Democrat assembly representative Zohran Kwame Mamdani slammed the Penny verdict on Monday afternoon and said Jordan Neely should have received more support.

Mamdani said: 'Today's verdict is not justice - nor was his killer a hero.'

'Jordan Neely needed stable housing and consistent mental healthcare. Instead, he was killed in a subway system that had become his only means of survival.'

Mamdani said Neely's death was a tragedy which 'laid bare decades of policy failure that can no longer be tolerated.'

Outside the courthouse on Monday afternoon, moments after Penny was acquitted, BLM leader Chivona Newsome told the crowd that she lost faith in the process after 'nine white jurors were chosen' to sit on the case.

The three remaining people of color were one Asian man, an Asian woman and a young black man.

The identities of all 12 jurors have been protected for their own safety. Some wore face masks for the duration of the trial which hid their features.

These are the 12 people who ultimately decided Mr Penny’s fate:

Juror One uses the subway three to four times a week and has seen outbursts on public transport. She lives near the Lincoln Center and works in marketing communications.

Juror Two is a health-care worker who said he uses the subway four times a week but has never seen anything of concern on his rides. He lives in Washington Heights.

Juror Three, a software engineer from the East Village, occasionally rides the subway, and like Juror Two said he has never felt threatened.

Juror Four is an insurance lawyer from Yorkville, and told the court she once had a cart rammed into her while riding a subway. She said the incident did not make her 'fear for her life.'

Juror Five is a retired engineer from the Upper East Side who specifically detailed having experience with a homeless man 'suffering from mental illness' on a subway platform.

Juror Six is a retired librarian who still rides the subway several times a week, but has never felt threatened. He lives in Morningside Heights.

Juror Seven has similarly never felt threatened, and can't recall having ever seen an outburst. The Upper West Sider said he works in creative production and uses the subway daily.

Juror Eight is a retiree in the East Village who said she rarely uses the subway.

Juror Nine works in a school development office and often uses the subway. While she has seen outbursts, she's never been personally targeted.

Juror 10 works in online retail marketing and revealed she has been personally harassed in an empty subway carriage in the past. The woman from Greenwich Village told the court: 'I think there are particular instances where force can be used.'

Juror 11 is a corporate lawyer from Murray Hill. He subscribes to the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and listens to podcasts and the National Public Radio to get his news. Similar to the jurors before him, he frequently rides the subway and has seen outbursts, but has never felt personally threatened.

Juror 12 is a paralegal in a litigation team who rides the subway five times a week. She said she has seen altercations during transit from her home in the Upper East Side.

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.

There was no immediate comment from prosecutors or lawyers for Penny, who rushed to a waiting car after the verdict. The anonymous jury was escorted out of court to a van.

BLM activist Walter 'Hawk' Newsome, who says he is Neely's uncle, called for black vigilantes after the jury returned a not guilty verdict against Penny.

'As with every case, we followed the facts and the evidence from beginning to end. A Grand Jury voted to indict, and the Office carefully presented this case to a trial jury.

'Over the course of the trial, we introduced medical records, videos, bodycam footage, and testimony from over 30 witnesses, including from the City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

'The jury carefully deliberated for four days. They requested readbacks of testimony and asked for video footage to re-watch, as well as written definitions of the law.

'Their lengthy deliberation – and the totality of the facts and the evidence – underscored why this case was put in front of a jury of Mr. Penny’s peers.

'The jury has now spoken. At the Manhattan D.A.’s Office we deeply respect the jury process and we respect their verdict.

'Unfortunately, over the duration of this trial, talented career prosecutors and their family members were besieged with hate and threats – on social media, by phone and over email.

'Simply put, this is unacceptable, and everyone, no matter your opinion on this case, should condemn it. These are prosecutors who have dedicated decades of their lives to public service and to the safety of Manhattan.

'I am grateful to them, as well as to the NYPD for their hard work and commitment on not only this matter, but for all they do on behalf of New Yorkers. I also want to thank Judge Wiley for presiding over this case.

Finally, I want to thank the members of the jury who took time out of their lives to diligently evaluate the evidence.'

As a younger man, Neely did Michael Jackson tributes — complete with moonwalks — on the city’s streets and subways, building a reputation among the artist’s fans and impersonators. But Neely also struggled with mental illness after losing his mother, whose boyfriend was convicted of murdering her.

Hospitalized for depression at age 14, Neely later was diagnosed with schizophrenia that at times made him hallucinate and become paranoid, according to medical records seen at the trial. Neely also used the synthetic cannabinoid K2 and realized it negatively affected his thinking and behavior, according to a 2019 hospital record. The drug was in his system when he died.

Neely told a doctor in 2017 that being homeless, living in poverty and having to 'dig through the garbage' for food made him feel so worthless and hopeless that he sometimes thought of killing himself, hospital records show.

About six years later, he boarded a subway under Manhattan on May 1, 2023, hurled his jacket onto the floor, and declared that he was hungry and thirsty and didn’t care if he died or went to jail, witnesses said. Some told 911 operators that he tried to attack people or indicated he’d harm riders, and several testified that they were nervous or outright feared for their lives.

The Marine veteran, 26, faced 15 years in prison for charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally-negligent homicide after the incident on the F train last spring, which was partly recorded and sparked a passionate national debate.

'I just wanna say I miss my son,' Neely's father Andre Zachary said on Monday.

'My son didn't have to go through this, what are we gonna do?

'Whats gonna happen to us now? The system is rigged.'

Penny was rushed out the backdoor of the courtroom after hsi acquittal on negligent homicide.

Protestors outside have continued to shout ‘No justice, no peace.'

Neely's father Andre Zachary was escorted out of the room after Penny was acquitted of negligent homicide.

A woman on the prosecution's side then told Penny: 'you're a racist fu****g c**t.'

BLM activist Walter 'Hawk' Newsome, who says he is Neely's uncle, was also escorted out after he appeared to threaten Penny, saying 'it's a small fu***ng world, buddy.'

The jury quickly came back with an unanimous decision on the lesser count of negligent homicide.

Screams erupted in the courtroom after a decision was read.

Tensions were high in the courtroom as Justice Maxwell Wiley addressed ‘unfair assertions’ made against Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran in the media during the trial.

He described the media reporting about Yoran as ‘uncalled for’ after several outlets including DailyMail.com noted her past lobbying of lesser sentences for criminals, which is in dark contrast with her prosecution of Penny.

The comments sparked an angry reaction from Penny’s lawyer Thomas Kenniff, who said they should not have been made on the record.

‘The DA is a public official. I don’t know why there was even a discussion about what was being said online.’

Kenniff snapped moments later as Yoran repeatedly attempted to speak over the top of him, saying: ‘allow me to finish. PLEASE.’

Phil Mickelson supported Daniel Penny after he took on step closer to freedom on Friday.

'Random thoughts Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth are great in the booth. ‘Day of the Jackal’ is an incredible show,' he wrote on X.

'If a deranged individual threatens to kill you let’s hope there’s a Daniel Penny around.'

'Thank you Daniel for serving your country and for protecting the many passengers whose lives were threatened by this violent and deranged individual,' the six-time major winner later added.

Daniel Penny’s lawyer has slammed BLM protesters who are shouting from outside the courthouse, telling the judge that they’re threatening jurors and could potentially scare them into finding him guilty.

Thomas Kenniff handed over an audio recording taken from inside the defense suite on the 13th floor, revealing the chants were clearly audible in the room even with all the windows closed.

He said it was likely that jurors in their deliberations were hearing the same phrases, which include: ‘Daniel Penny Subway Strangler’ and ‘if we don’t get no justice, they don’t get no peace’.

‘That should be interpreted as a threat against the jury,’ he said.

Justice Wiley agreed he had heard that phrase as well, but said he did not want to draw jurors attention to it again when they’ve ignored the opinions of protesters thus far.

Kenniff said: ‘It was prefaced by a press conference on the courthouse steps on Friday by activists supporting the Neely family, I suppose. Where they threatened riots and violence as what they saw as the injustice of what occurred on Friday and the prospect of something less than a guilty verdict.’

The man he was referring to, Hawk Newsome, was in the courtroom at the time. He scoffed and shook his head in Kenniff’s direction, before getting to his feet and walking out of the courtroom.

Almost simultaneously, the chants from outside became louder and audible even over the discussions.

As court convened Monday morning, Judge Maxwell Wiley told jurors he wasn’t directing them to reach a verdict, unless all 12 agreed it was right under the law and the evidence.

'It’s not the court’s business to talk about what directions your deliberations are taking or what you’re talking about, and it’s certainly not the court’s role to influence your deliberations. In fact, that’s improper. That’s entirely up to you,' Wiley told the panel.

The judge at the center of a controversial decision to drop the manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny in his highly-publicized subway death trial is no stranger to contentious decisions.

Justice Maxwell Wiley is an acting Justice of the New York County Supreme Court, having presided over controversial trials in the role for 20 years.

On Friday, Justice Wiley risked creating 'reversible error' and handing the defense a pathway to appeal any conviction when he contradicted his own jury instructions which demanded they don't consider a secondary charge of negligent homicide until they'd reached a verdict on the manslaughter charge.

On Monday, Penny's defense team once again asked the judge to declare a mistrial.

'I disagree with the defense. I don’t agree the court has committed a legal error,' judge Wiley said as he denied the defense's request.

'I deny your motion for mistrial,' he continued.

'The jurors can continue their deliberations. Whenever they are ready for us, we are ready.'

Among Penny's supporters was New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

In a shock intervention this weekend, before the trial was reached, Adams spoke out to criticize the media for how they presented Neely.

He also praised Penny for his actions, and slammed the New York City systems that allowed Neely, who was mentally ill and violent, to walk free.

Jurors began deliberating last Tuesday and at the time were told they needed to reach a verdict on the manslaughter count before they could consider criminally negligent homicide.

On Friday, they told Wiley they were deadlocked on the top charge, and remained so even after he urged them to keep trying.

'Whether that makes any difference or not, I have no idea. But I’m going to direct you to focus your deliberations on count two,' Judge Maxwell Wiley said, telling them to 'go home and think about something else.'

The jury in Penny's trial is scheduled to begin their delibarations on the negligence homicide charge at 9.45 EST.

These jurors - seven women and five men - have been granted anonymity due to the contentious nature of the trial.

Neely, 30, was a famous Michael Jackson impersonator and often seen across the city dancing in a red Thriller leather jacket and the popstar's quintessential loafers.

According to his family, he suffered from autism and schizophrenia and was permanently scarred by the murder of his mother, Christine Neely, in 2007.

He was arrested 42 times in the last decade of his life.

Assistant Manhattan DA Dafna Yoran has asked jurors to convict the marine veteran of manslaughter over the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, despite previously pushing for 'restorative justice' for criminals.

Early Thursday morning an 'autonomous group of New Yorkers reclaimed an F train car' - the same subway line that Jordan Neely was killed on by the Marine Corp veteran on May 1, 2023. 

The black-and-white signs displayed the words 'A MAN WAS LYNCHED HERE' along with Neely's name, as they replaced previous ads on the train.

One of Penny's lawyers, Daniel Kenniff, noted after court that jurors did hear from Penny, in the form of his recorded statements to police minutes and hours after he put Neely in a chokehold.

Penny told police he was not trying to kill Neely, who he described as a 'crackhead.'

Fox News political activist Gregg Jarrett accused Judge willey of 'rewriting his own rules' after he allowed the prosecution's request to drop the manslaughter charge against Penny after the jury was deadlocked.

'If the jury convicts on the lesser charge, it would be overturned on appeal because the judge contradicted hisown earlier ruling that the jury could only consider the second act if they found Penny not guilty of the first count,' Jarrett said.

'The judge is letting the jury do what he said he couldn't do, and the defense is right, this is coercive, sort of forcing the jury to convict by changing the rules.'

Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran on Tuesday displayed a graphic photo of inside Neely's eye, taken during an autopsy after his death, which shocked the room.

The image was blasted across four screens - two facing the jury, a third facing the viewing gallery and a fourth directly in front of the defendant.

Meanwhile Penny's lawyer tore into the prosecution after journalists were peppered with emails from the DA's office ordering them to include certain details in their stories.

In his closing arguments defense attorney Steven Raiser pointed out no expert witness during the trial could prove key elements beyond reasonable doubt.

The jurors began deliberating Tuesday and at the time were told they needed to reach a verdict on the manslaughter count before they could consider criminally negligent homicide.

But on Friday, they told the judge they were deadlocked on the top charge, and remained so even after Wiley urged them to keep trying.

Penny, seen below, listens as Judge Maxwell Wiley presides in his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on December 6.

ordan Neeley's family have filed a lawsuit against Daniel Penny - a homeless man who died after he was held in a chokehold on the New York subway last year.

They are suing Penny, a former member of the Marine Corps, for negligent contact, assault, and battery that caused injuries and ultimately death, The Independent has reported.

The judge overseeing Penny's trial dismissed the top charge in the case on Friday at the request of prosecutors, allowing jurors to consider a lesser count after they deadlocked on whether he was guilty over the death of Jordan Neely on a New York subway train.

Judge Maxwell Wiley's decision will now let jurors deliberate a charge of criminally negligent homicide, which carries a lighter punishment.

The Long Island native was 24 years old when he had the fatal encounter with troubled former Michael Jackson impersonator, Jordan Neely, on an F train in Manhattan in May, 2023.

Manslaughter requires proving a defendant recklessly caused another person’s death, and carries up to 15 years.

Criminally negligent homicide, which carries punishments ranging from probation to up to four years in prison, involves engaging in serious 'blameworthy conduct' while not perceiving such a risk.

The jury could not come to an unanimous decision on whether Penny was guilty or not of manslaughter.

Judge Maxwell Wiley shockingly allowed the prosecution to drop the manslaughter charge on Friday after jurors were deadlocked - and after the defense asked for a new trial due to a hung jury.

While the judge allowed prosecutors to drop the most serious charge, which carried up to 15 years in prison, Penny still faces up to four years punishment if convicted of the lesser charge.

Criminally negligent homicide carries punishments ranging from probation to up to four years in prison.

It involves engaging in serious 'blameworthy conduct' while not perceiving such a risk.

Below, Daniel Penny enters Manhattan Supreme Court Monday as the jury in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely deliberate for a fifth day.