Daniel Penny was acquitted Monday of manslaughter in the chokehold death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely Homeless man with a history of mental illness whose final moments on a New York City subway were captured on bystander video, sparking weeks of protests and drawing national attention.

The decision came on the fifth day of deliberations after the jury deadlocked Friday on the more serious charge of manslaughter, prompting the judge to reject the charge. Penny faced a prison sentence of up to four years.

The anonymous jury of seven women and five men were told before they began deliberations that they would have to reach a unanimous decision on the main charge of second-degree manslaughter before they could consider involuntary manslaughter. But Judge Maxwell Wiley changed that order Friday after the jury twice sent notices that they could not reach an agreement.

The judge had also instructed the jury to decide whether Penny’s actions caused Neely’s death and, if so, whether he acted recklessly and unjustifiably.

Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator, had screamed and behaved erratically as he boarded a subway in Manhattan on May 1, 2023. Whether he lived or died, witnesses said. Penny, 26, a former Marine and Long Island native, held Neely in a chokehold that lasted nearly six minutes, according to prosecutors.

A New York medical examiner concluded that Neely died from compression of his neck resulting from the chokehold.

Penny’s lawyers told jurors that he intervened because he believed Neely might attack other passengers and that he just wanted to hold him until police arrived, which Penny also told police. They also argued that Neely was not killed by the chokehold and that it was impossible to measure how much pressure Penny applied.

A forensic pathologist hired by the defense testified that Neely died from a combination of schizophrenia, synthetic marijuana, sickle cell anemia and fighting Penny’s bonds. But the medical examiner who performed Neely’s autopsy, Dr. Cynthia Harris, told jurors it was her medical opinion “that there are no alternative reasonable explanations” for his death and that those suggested by the defense were “so unlikely – to hold up.” Shoulder to shoulder with impossibility.”

During cross-examination, one of Penny’s lawyers, Steven Raiser, tried to cast doubt on Harris’ testimony about how she and her colleagues came to a unanimous decision about Neely’s cause of death. Raiser said they failed to consider all the facts before making this decision.

He reiterated that claim in his closing argument last week.

“I grant you there was a rush to a verdict based on something other than medical science,” he told jurors.

The case divided people in New York – and beyond – along political and racial lines. Neely was black. Penny is white. Some people viewed Penny as callous and his actions as criminal, while others said he was selfless in his attempt to protect fellow passengers.

The case also sparked debates about safety in the city’s subway system and failures to address homelessness and mental illness, which Neely struggled with. Jumaane Williams, a black Democrat and New York City public advocate, was among those who questioned why police let Penny go after questioning him at a precinct just hours after Neely’s killing. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also a Democrat, said Neely was “murdered.” Prominent Republicans such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Matt Gaetz praised Penny and held a fundraiser for his legal fund, which has raised more than $3 million. His defense team includes Thomas Kenniff, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Manhattan district attorney in 2021. Vickie Paladino, a Republican councilwoman from Queens, attended closing arguments in support of Penny last week.

Prosecutors did not dispute that Neely’s behavior on the train frightened many passengers or that he ingested synthetic cannabinoids found in his body. In her opening statement, Dafna Yoran, an assistant prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said that Neely “demanded to be seen” and that although he did not touch anyone and did not show a weapon or threaten to use a weapon, many people were in the Subway cars were afraid of what he might do.

She said Penny’s “original intent was even commendable,” but he was reckless as he continued to choke Neely even after he no longer posed a threat, even after the train doors opened at the next station and passengers were allowed to disembark. For a time, she said, and video showed, two other men helped hold Neely down. One of these men testified that he believed Penny had held the chokehold for too long. Sometimes, she said, he even ignored bystanders’ pleas to let Neely go. In her closing argument, Yoran said that “no one had to die” and that Penny’s use of deadly physical force was not justified.

“You obviously can’t kill someone because they’re crazy, swearing and looking threatening,” Yoran told jurors in her closing argument. “No matter what they say.”

She also said that Penny “could have easily held Neely without suffocating him.”

In his closing argument, Raiser asked jurors to imagine that they were on the train the day Neely boarded, “full of anger and unafraid of any consequences.”

“While you’re sitting in this small room like this, looking up at Mr. Neely,” he said. “You have very little room to move and no place to run.”

“Danny,” as defense attorneys called Penny during the trial, “risked his life” and acted in the absence of police, Raiser said.

But Yoran questioned the portrayal of Penny as a self-sacrificing and benevolent subway driver. In her opening statement, she said that Penny had failed to recognize Neely’s humanity. She continued that thread in her closing argument, playing a video of Penny calling Neely a “crackhead” twice in an interview with police and telling the jury that he never asked about Neely’s condition.

“There is something else that is glaringly missing from his statement. Some regret. Any regrets. Any self-reflection,” she said. She added: “He never expresses his sadness over the man’s death.”

During deliberations, jurors asked to rewatch bystander videos of Penny restraining Neely, the responding officers’ body camera videos and video of Penny’s subsequent interview with two police officers at a station. They also asked to rehear the coroner’s testimony about issuing a death certificate before Neely’s full toxicology reports were completed. They also asked the judge to read the definitions of recklessness and criminal negligence again and to provide the definitions in writing.

Penny chose not to testify. During the trial, which began Nov. 1, jurors heard from more than 40 witnesses – subway passengers who witnessed Penny restraining Neely, police officers who responded to the scene, a Marine Corps instructor who witnessed Penny Chokeholds taught the two pathologists, a psychiatrist expert witness and six character witnesses, including two Marines, Penny’s mother and one of his sisters.

On Wednesday, Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, sued Penny, accusing him of negligent touching, assault and battery that led to Neely’s death. The civil lawsuit was filed in the New York State Supreme Court, a trial court in New York State.