Alvin Bragg’s Prosecutor Pulls Surprise and Very Prejudicial Move on Daniel Penny

What has been going on in the Daniel Penny case, from the second NYPD detectives brought the young man in for questioning, has been the grossest and most disgusting miscarriage of justice imaginable.

And after living through the past five years of Soros prosecutors, I can imagine some pretty horrible stuff.

John had the breaking news earlier about the deadlocked jury…

When jury deliberations began in the Daniel Penny case on Tuesday, I really expected we’d have a verdict in a matter of hours or certainly by Wednesday morning. Today, on the jury’s 4th day of deliberations they have told the judge they are deadlocked on the manslaughter charge.

Jurors on the Daniel Penny chokehold trial returned to deliberations for a fourth day Friday for just an hour before telling the court they could not come to an agreement on the top charge, manslaughter, as they weigh the fate of a 26-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student accused of killing a mentally ill homeless man who threatened to kill people on a Manhattan subway car….

…and to no one’s real surprise, Judge Wiley sent them back to keep deliberating.

They spent more time banging heads trying to come up with a verdict and, again, no joy, jurors said.

…Judge Maxwell Wiley had instructed the jurors to keep deliberating after they were deadlocked on the charge earlier in the day. Penny’s defense attorneys objected and moved for a mistrial over the deadlocked panel of 12 Manhattanites.

“It’s not time for a mistrial,” Wiley told the attorneys outside the presence of the jury, after the jury first reported being deadlocked.

The jury sent its first note marking its impasse after 16 hours of deliberating since they got the case Tuesday afternoon and the second note three hours later.

The defense renewed its mistrial motion after the latest jury note indicating the panel remains deadlocked.

One male juror shook his head looking down as Wiley instructed the jury to “be flexible” as they move forward in deliberations.

What happened next has people watching the trial exploding. 

…Shortly before the judge’s ruling, lead prosecutor Dafna Yoran had indicated her office would be willing to drop the second-degree manslaughter charge if the jury could move on to consider the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.

Wait a second, whut?

via GIPHY

Even the judge, when ADA Yoran floats that the DAs office is considering ‘withdrawing’ the manslaughter charge says he doesn’t ‘think that’s consistent with New York State law.’

Judge Wiley: I think either I declare a mistrial, or give them a second Allen charge, maybe tell them to come back Monday. But I don’t know what I would say.
ADA Yoran: There’s no point to that if we don’t resolve this first.

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) December 6, 2024

But that is exactly what happens, and the defense, quite rightfully, is losing their minds.

 A judge granted the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter against Daniel Penny on Friday in his trial over the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway last year, clearing the way for the jury to consider the remaining lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.

…Over defense objections, Judge Maxwell Wiley agreed with prosecutors who argued that dismissing the first count of second-degree manslaughter eliminates the defense’s concern about a compromise verdict.

Wiley told the jury that the second-degree manslaughter charge has been dismissed “functionally,” allowing them to now consider the remaining charge of criminally negligent homicide.

SEE YOU ALL BACK HERE MONDAY

No one has EVER  heard of this happening before.

Where I practice as a prosecutor, we can amend the indictment or move to dismiss counts up until the case is given to the jury. The requirement of unanimous verdict should apply to all counts given to the jury. I have never heard of what they are attempting to do here.

— doggone (@trnrbrnt) December 6, 2024

It’s a flagrantly illegal gambit by prosecutors to push the jury into a guilty verdict on the criminally negligent homicide count.

What Dafna Yoran is doing to Daniel Penny is nuts and absolutely illegal.

She moved to dismiss count one (manslaughter) because count two (criminal negligent homicide) couldn’t be considered if there was a verdict.

They’re bending the law to try and squeeze a guilty verdict for… pic.twitter.com/qHMCxjDqfU

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 6, 2024

As my colleague over at RedState says, the prosecution gets a do-over?

There’s no precedent for this, BTW. The judge just made it up.

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 6, 2024

Bragg’s toadies have managed to basically lose their case. 

As John explained it to me, the DAs office preferred to try this unheard-of maneuver because:

They were only able to find him guilty of one charge. If they found him guilty of manslaughter the lesser charge would not be considered. However, they can’t consider criminally negligent homicide until they decide on manslaughter which is why the DA is dismissing it. She’d rather have half a loaf than no loaf.

One silver-lining is that because the Court granted the People’s motion to dismiss, Penny cannot be retried on C1, which carries a sentence of 0-15 yrs. (That would be a violation of double jeopardy.)

So, while I am still not sure what went down was procedurally proper, in the… https://t.co/anSl168oVL

— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) December 6, 2024

…So, while I am still not sure what went down was procedurally proper, in the long run, this is better than a mistrial being declared on C1 bc he could then be retired on that count. 

My concern is the potential prejudice to Penny given how this all went down. Might a juror who was concerned about a conviction on C1 now decide it’s ok to convict on C2 because C1 has been dismissed? 

BUT this could also cut the other way – a juror who was NG on C2 may hold firm in their position and think C2 gets dismissed as well if they can’t agree.  

In short, this is a mess. And really unfair to Penny.

It’s unbelievable.

BREAKING: Daniel Penny has departs the courthouse after his manslaughter charge was dismissed.
pic.twitter.com/LdxBf7CgIX

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 6, 2024

No one in NYC can ever say a disparaging word about a banana republic again.

If the shenanigans being pulled by the DA and judge in the Daniel Penny trial are allowed, I won’t blame people for never trusting the justice system again.

A judge shouldn’t be scheming with the prosecution on how to break precedent to ensure a guilty verdict.

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 6, 2024

And for all the people talking about Trump pardoning him, if, God forbid, this tremendous young man is convicted – stop. These are state charges – Trump cannot pardon Daniel Penny.

This is what and who Daniel Penny was protecting those people from.

A reminder of what Daniel Penny was protecting people from⬇️

•Jordan Neely – arrested over 40 times.

Other crimes:

2015 – arrested for trying to kidnap a 7 y.o girl.

2019 – arrested for punching a 64 y.o. man in the face.

2021 – punched a 67 year old woman in the face. pic.twitter.com/ke0GzzZ3Ua

— police.law.news (@policelawnews) December 5, 2024

This is a 911 call from the subway car that was ‘belatedly’ entered into evidence late last week.

Not suspicious at all that it should have been left out, right?

God help this young man against the enormous evil he’s facing.

God grant whoever on that jury, which was the one or ones arguing for acquittal, to stay strong.

We need our heroes. 

We need our Daniel Pennys.