Daniel Penny Celebrates ‘Not Guilty’ Verdict At Local NYC Bar

Daniel Penny and his legal team were seen celebrating in Manhattan on Monday following his acquittal in a high-profile manslaughter trial.

The 26-year-old Marine veteran was spotted enjoying a beer with his defense attorneys, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser, at Stone Street Tavern in the Financial District just hours after a jury cleared him of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely.

The group later continued their evening at the American Whiskey bar in Midtown, the New York Post reported.

Penny, a Long Island native, had faced the possibility of up to four years in prison if convicted. When asked how he was feeling, a visibly relieved Penny, accompanied by security guards, simply replied, “Great,” as his lawyers kept him away from reporters, The Post added.

Kenniff noted that his client will move on and attempt to get his life back.

“He’ll be looking to resume, get his life back together,” he said. “The situation like this, we savor the victory but all the harm that has been done to him just doesn’t vanish. That’s true of anyone who is falsely accused.”

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After about five days of deliberation, jurors concluded that Daniel Penny was not criminally responsible for the death of Jordan Neely, whom he allegedly placed in a chokehold on a crowded subway in May 2023.

The 12-member jury initially deadlocked on Friday, leading prosecutors to make the unexpected decision to drop the manslaughter charge, the most serious count against Penny, and instruct the jury to continue deliberating on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.

“I’m not surprised [by the verdict] in the sense that Day 1 we knew that we believed he would be exonerated because the evidence overwhelmingly supported that,” said Kenniff. “When you’re in the midst of it, five days of deliberation, it would be inhuman not to be nervous, not to have anxiety. Were we surprised by how it came down, when it came down, the moment it came down? Sure. But were we surprised by the result? No.”

The Post added, “Penny and his crew were later spotted downing pints at American Whisky on West 30th Street — where they were also hounded by his security.”