SAUNDERS: New York jury acquits Penny

It’s no surprise that a jury of his peers acquitted Daniel Penny, 26, Monday on a charge of criminally negligent homicide that stemmed from a May 1, 2023, encounter with fellow New York subway passenger Jordan Neely. Neely reportedly had been yelling that he was going to kill people on the train, that he was willing to go to jail for life, and that he was willing to die. Penny put Neely in a chokehold and Neely died.

Penny clearly did not intend to kill Neely.

The former Marine, surfer and world traveler thought he was being a good guy.

“I’m not trying to kill the guy,” Penny later told two detectives whom he allowed to question him, according to a video posted on The Free Press. “I’m just trying to keep him from hurting anybody else.”

While the New York medical examiner claimed the cause of Neely’s death was Penny’s chokehold, Neely, 30, appeared to be high on something, agitated and mentally ill.

As The Free Press reported, Neely had been arrested more than 40 times and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was on a “Top 50” roster of New Yorkers “who have a history of resisting help despite the most dire need,” the New York Times reported.

Medical examiner Cynthia Harris cited the choke hold as the cause of death before toxicology tests were completed.

It turns out, CBS News reported, the toxicology report found K2, a synthetic cannabinoid, in Neely’s system.

Harris also told the jury “no one can say how much” K2 was in his system because current testing does not quantify it; it only determines if it’s present since synthetic cannabinoids “change like fashion trends.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Research shows use of illicit synthetic cannabinoids is associated with severe health problems and can be life-threatening.”

Also, Harris testified that she would have ruled the cause of death was compression of the neck even if she had found fentanyl in his system. So she’s hardly a model of impartiality.

“He scared the living daylights out of everybody,” witness Althea Gittings told an NYPD officer whose body cam recorded her saying that Neely seemed “totally drugged out” and that Penny did not employ “a hard chokehold.”

Penny maintained that he did not want to kill Neely, which is why he did not use a “textbook chokehold” that lasted some six minutes.

Another factor that turned this awful story into a national controversy was race. Penny is white and Neely was black.

Assistant District Attorney Jillian Shartrand repeatedly referred to Penny as “the white man” during the trial.

The Rev. Al Sharpton posted on social media, “Jordan was in the middle of a mental health crisis, but instead of being offered a helping hand, he got an arm around his neck. This verdict represents the blatant legalization of civilian vigilantism, sending a dangerous message that citizens can now take matters into their own hands, even if it leads to someone’s death.”

How threatening was Neely? I would imagine that his tone and volume signaled to others how much of a threat he posed. The New York Times reported that two of the 11 witnesses testified that Neely’s presence amounted to the scariest experience they’d had on a subway.

Before the verdict, New York Mayor Eric Adams called the Big Apple’s mental health system “a complete failure.”

Adams, a former NYPD officer, also recognized, “You have someone on that subway who was responding, doing what we should have done.”

Vice President-elect JD Vance was a voice of reason after the verdict. “I have not said much about this case out of fear of (negatively) influencing the jury,” he posted on social media. “But thank God justice was done in this case. It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place.”

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.