Manhattan DA's downplaying of Daniel Penny's potential punishment 'improper and misleading': defense

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's bureau has been aggressively pushing for the media to enactment that if convicted of second-degree manslaughter astatine trial, Marine seasoned Daniel Penny faces nary mandatory minimum situation term, Penny's lawyers told the justice this week.

The 26-year-old aspiring designer would look a maximum punishment of 15 years down bars, if convicted for Jordan Neely's decease connected a Manhattan F train.

Neely rushed onto a subway car with women and children, shouted that idiosyncratic would "die today," and warned that helium wasn't acrophobic to spell to situation for life. Penny grabbed him successful a chokehold oregon headlock, took him to the ground, and helium aboriginal died.

"The District Attorney’s efforts to person the assemblage speculate arsenic to a imaginable condemnation are some improper and misleading," Penny's defence lawyers, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, told Fox News Digital Wednesday. "While it is technically existent that these charges bash not transportation a mandatory minimum, that is the lawsuit with astir felonies successful New York. It is arsenic existent that the maximum condemnation is 15 years successful authorities prison."

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Daniel Penny arrives to Manhattan Supreme Court successful New York, NY connected Wednesday, December 4, 2024. The assemblage volition proceed to deliberate successful his second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide proceedings for successful the 2023 decease of Jordan Neely connected a New York City subway train. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

Penny's defence has raised concerns passim the proceedings that the prosecution is overstepping its bounds and unfairly depicting the altercation arsenic thing with radical undertones, adjacent though prosecutors person not alleged a hatred crime.

"Moreover, the tenacity with which the District Attorney has sought to obtain a conviction against Mr. Penny powerfully suggests that they will advocator for a important condemnation successful the lawsuit of a blameworthy verdict," the attorneys said.

Outside experts said determination are a fewer imaginable explanations regarding what Bragg's bureau described arsenic "something factual for context."

It’s exceedingly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a prosecutor’s bureau to usage the property to assuage the public’s interest if they were to execute a conviction.

"Defense lawyers are barred from mentioning imaginable sentences astatine proceedings — the reasoning being that it would beryllium an effort to question sympathy from jurors who past whitethorn scope a verdict based connected thing different than the facts, In different words, ‘He whitethorn beryllium guilty, but 10 years is excessively overmuch time,’" said Danielle Iredale, who antecedently represented New York subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz successful a marijuana case.  "Here, determination is simply a hypocrisy to the DA’s messaging. In attempting to people the information that determination is nary statutory mandatory minimum sentence, they are fundamentally saying, ‘It’s OK to convict, helium whitethorn not spell to the jail!’"

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives astatine Daniel Penny’s proceedings pursuing a luncheon interruption astatine the Manhattan Supreme Criminal Court gathering successful New York City connected Monday, December 2, 2024. Closing arguments are acceptable to statesman contiguous successful Penny’s proceedings for the 2023 subway decease of Jordan Neely. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital) (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

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Goetz was progressive successful 1 of New York City's astir salient self-defense cases. He changeable 4 teenage muggers with an unlicensed handgun, paralyzing 1 of them. Jurors recovered him not blameworthy of attempted murder, but helium spent respective months successful jailhouse connected the amerciable firearm charge. Iredale represented him successful the 2010s connected a low-level cookware lawsuit that was yet dismissed.

"It’s exceedingly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a prosecutor’s bureau to usage the property to assuage the public’s interest if they were to execute a conviction," Iredale, who is barred successful New York but present practices successful San Diego, told Fox News Digital. "This suggests an consciousness connected the portion of the DA’s bureau that nationalist sentiment is not supportive of this prosecution.  This backpedaling raises a superior question arsenic to whether oregon not the prosecution adjacent believes they should person brought charges successful the archetypal place."

Subway gunman Bernhard Goetz enters Bronx State Supreme Court April 8, 1996, to instrumentality the witnesser basal successful the $50 cardinal suit filed by 1 of the achromatic youths helium changeable who attempted to rob him. The subway shooting 12 years earlier made Goetz a awesome of the conflict against transgression successful New York City. (Mark Cardwell/Reuters)

Bragg could beryllium trying to prevention look aft bringing a lawsuit against a antheral viewed by galore of the witnesses arsenic a bully Samaritan, according to respective ineligible experts.

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"It appears that [the Manhattan DA] is yet speechmaking the country regarding the unpopularity and weakness of this lawsuit and whitethorn beryllium considering asking the justice for a ‘non-carceral’ condemnation successful the lawsuit of a conviction," said Paul Mauro, a erstwhile NYPD inspector, utilizing a word to picture sentences that don't impact situation time. "And if that's the case, they shouldn't person brought the…case to statesman with."

Jordan Neely is pictured earlier going to spot the Michael Jackson movie, "This is It," extracurricular the Regal Cinemas connected 8th Ave. and 42nd St. successful Times Square, New York, successful 2009.  (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams has spoken successful defence of Penny.

"We’re present connected the subway wherever we’re proceeding idiosyncratic talking astir hurting people, sidesplitting people," Adams said connected the Nov. 30 occurrence of "The Rob Astorino Show." "You person idiosyncratic [Penny] connected that subway who was responding, doing what we should person done arsenic a city."

Bragg could besides beryllium acrophobic that the justice could enforce a airy sentence, careless of what his prosecutors seek.

"It could beryllium that the territory lawyer is trying to hole radical for, ‘Hey, there’s a conviction, but you cognize the justice could supply a lenient condemnation for this guy,'" said Matthew Mangino, the erstwhile territory lawyer of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. "And connected the different manus it could beryllium that the mode the proceedings has proceeded, adjacent the prosecution has said what Penny did is laudable. He stepped in, but helium went excessively far. And possibly the DA is preparing radical for their proposal of a lenient sentence."

But during her closing arguments this week, Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran aggressively painted Penny arsenic a antheral without remorse, who didn't spot Neely's "humanity." Penny remained connected country and voluntarily spoke with police, who did not archer him Neely was dead.

Prosecutor Dafna Yoran departs Daniel Penny’s proceedings astatine the Manhattan Supreme Criminal Court gathering successful New York City connected Monday, December 2, 2024. Both sides began their closing arguments successful Penny’s proceedings for the 2023 subway decease of Jordan Neely.  (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

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"Penny was lasting determination for 10 minutes watching resuscitation efforts -- astatine nary constituent did Penny say, "Oh, by the way, how's that feline doing? Did helium marque it?'" she told the jury. "The defendant, arsenic bully and empathetic arsenic we perceive helium tin be, seems to person a existent unsighted spot for Mr. Neely."

Penny, erstwhile helium spoke with detectives, described Neely arsenic a "crackhead" and raised concerns astir a spate of convulsive subway crimes starring up to the incidental – crimes that progressives spent years downplaying with Bragg successful office.

"He was talking gibberish...but these guys are pushing radical successful beforehand of trains and stuff," helium told detectives. There were much than 20 subway shoves successful the twelvemonth earlier Penny's brushwood with Neely.

Daniel Penny sits for a photograph successful Mineola, New York connected Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

Just 3 days earlier, a straphanger had been stabbed with an crystal prime connected a J train, according to reports from the time. It was astir a period aft a PBS newsman got sucker punched connected a No. 4 train. There was a shove a week earlier that, and the unfortunate deed the broadside of a moving R bid and survived.

In that clime of fear, witnesses said they were terrified by Neely, who shouted decease threats astatine them.

Witness Ivette Rosario, a 19-year-old student, testified that Neely shouted idiosyncratic would "die that day."

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But Yoran told the assemblage that Penny "was truthful reckless with Neely’s beingness due to the fact that helium didn’t look to admit his humanity."

"He saw him arsenic a idiosyncratic that needed to beryllium eliminated," she said.

The defendant's remorse tin beryllium a cardinal origin if determination is simply a sentencing. But it has little to bash with guilt.

"Remorse is simply a large contented astatine sentencing," said Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based proceedings lawyer and erstwhile national prosecutor. "Judges privation to spot radical who person accepted work for their actions. It doesn’t truly person immoderate interaction connected guilt oregon innocence."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.