The jury in the Daniel Penny case deadlocked on the Second Degree Manslaughter count, even after the judge gave them an ‘Allen Charge’ to keep deliberating. The court could either declare a mistrial (as the defense requested) or grant the prosecution’s request to dismiss the manslaughter charge and allow the jury to proceed to consider the lower criminally negligent homicide charge.
The court granted the prosecution’s request, dismissed the manslaughter charge, and the jury will return Monday to deliverate on the lesser charge. CNN reports:
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.The ruling came after a Manhattan jury said they were deadlocked twice on the charge. Penny’s defense attorneys maintained their motion for a mistrial.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.The jury has been dismissed for the day and jurors will return Monday morning to continue deliberations.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.
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