The judge overseeing the murder case against Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran accused of wrongfully killing a homeless man on a New York City subway, on Friday afternoon dropped the second-degree manslaughter charge against Penny after a Manhattan jury told the court it was deadlocked.
Prosecutors motioned for the charge to be dropped in hopes that the jury would vote to convict Penny on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. Jurors told the court twice on Friday that they were unable to unanimously decide on a verdict for the more serious charge.
The dropped charge was the latest dramatic development in the case, which has garnered nationwide headlines. Penny's trial is seen by some as a miscarriage of justice against a man who they say should be hailed as a hero, whereas others believe Penny acted with reckless abandon when he put Jordan Neely, the homeless man, in a chokehold after Neely threatened subway riders.
Jurors were sent home for the weekend after the judge's decision. They are expected to meet again Monday in hopes of hashing out a verdict.
Penny's attorneys asked throughout the day for a mistrial. The judge rejected those requests and ordered the jury to continue deliberations.
Prosecutors have conceded that Penny did not intend to kill Neely, saying instead that Penny left him in a chokehold for too long, six minutes, after Neely boarded a subway car and threatened passengers.
Penny's defense team has noted that a toxicology report showed synthetic marijuana in Neely's system, a drug that is known to cause psychotic breaks in its users. Neely, who once acted as a Michael Jackson impersonator in street performances, had a long history of mental health issues.
"Danny acted when others didn't," his defense attorney Steven Raiser said during closing arguments. "He put his life on the line. He did that for perfect strangers."