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In the Daniel Penny trial, the judge threw out the manslaughter charge today after the jury couldn’t agree. This happened after jurors sent two notes to Judge Maxwell Wiley on Friday, both stating they were stuck on reaching a unanimous verdict for the manslaughter charge.
The prosecution asked for the charge to be dismissed, which wasn’t disclosed to the jury, and now they’ll only consider the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, which could land Penny in jail for up to four years if convicted. Penny has maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty.
The jury, made up of seven women and five men, will pick up deliberations again on Monday. Before they started, Judge Wiley laid down the law that they had to agree unanimously on manslaughter before even thinking about the lesser charge. They were also tasked with figuring out if Penny’s chokehold was what killed Jordan Neely on that NYC subway last year, and if Penny was reckless or if his actions were unjustified.