The Manhattan jury tasked with deciding Daniel Penny’s fate has acquitted the 26-year-old architecture student of criminally negligent homicide, a Class E felony that carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley agreed on Friday to dismiss the more serious charge, manslaughter in the second degree after the jury deadlocked repeatedly. Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran, who is prosecuting the case, had requested the manslaughter charge be dropped so the jury could take up the lesser charge. The 12-person panel has now acquitted Penny of the lesser charge.
Related: Judge Dismisses Manslaughter Charge in Daniel Penny Case After Jury Deadlocks
Arthur Aidala, a New York criminal defense lawyer and legal analyst, appeared on Fox 5’s morning show, “Good Day New York” on Monday morning to discuss the case. He said that the case should have ended in a mistrial on Friday when the jury could not agree on a verdict: “So, just so you know, the jurors are told, ‘Look at manslaughter in the second degree and don’t look at criminal negligent homicide until you get a decision on that.’ So they say, ‘We can’t get…
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