Daniel Penny — a not guilty verdict and a win for self-defense
The trial of Daniel Penny ended today with a not guilty verdict rendered by the jury. The verdict is a positive one for those who had concerns over the impact a guilty verdict would have had on the right to self-defense.
On May 1, 2023, Daniel Penny, then 24, stood up for his safety and that of other passengers on a NYC subway car when he restrained Jordan Neely, 30, who had boarded the subway and began threatening passengers by standing over them threatening among other things that “someone’s going to die.” Penny put Neely in a rear restraint for several minutes and was assisted by two other male riders, while others contacted the police. Neely went into cardiac arrest and died after authorities arrived. Penny was subsequently charged with Manslaughter (Reckless Homicide), and Negligent Homicide and brought to trial.
The prosecution of Penny brought about concerns by many over the chilling message it sends to anyone put in the position of defending themselves. The same sentiment has been realized in Minnesota recently with caselaw supporting a “duty to retreat” in self-defense situations.
Of course, a criminal justice system that on one hand fails to protect law-abiding citizens from violence, while on the other hand prosecutes those same citizens for trying to protect themselves, is destined to implode.
Penny’s not guilty verdict, by a NYC jury, nonetheless, offers us hope.
And it almost didn’t happen. In a rather rare jury instruction, the judge instructed that the jury could only convict on one of the charges, not both. Then, in an even rarer move, after the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the most serious charge of manslaughter, the prosecutor and judge agreed to drop that charge and allow the jury to consider only the negligent homicide charge. This seemed to set the stage for the jury to render a face-saving guilty verdict. Fortunately, justice and reason prevailed.
None of this is meant to demonize Jordan Neely. He was a man who had suffered from mental illness for the majority of his life, being hospitalized for the first time at 14. Neely and thousands like him have been utterly failed by a nationwide mental health philosophy that has lobbied for decades to close institutions and push the mentally ill into the community for treatment. That might work well for some who have solid support systems, but it fails far too many and makes tragedies like this case an almost certainty.
NYC spends over $12 billion annually on public safety and mental health intervention. The failures of that effort cost Neely his life and have forever changed Penny’s. Fortunately for Penny, and for society, reasonable people making up a NYC jury spoke up today.
Despite criminal proceedings being completed, Penny must now defend himself against a civil suit brought against him just last week by Neely’s father. What a nightmare for this young man who simply tried to protect himself and others from violence.
In a wonderful development, a legal defense fund was established to assist Penny in his defense — both criminally and civilly. According to the fund, “Any proceeds collected, which exceed those necessary to cover Mr. Penny’s legal defense, will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City.”
In a perfect world Penny would sue the NYC mental health system for putting him in this position. Maybe such a suit could be the impetus for real change?
