I am torn when it comes to the case of Daniel Penny choking to death Jordan Neely.
On the one hand, you can’t just go and choke out someone because they’re being loud and obnoxious on the subway
On the other hand, I was living in Portland, Oregon, when a man on the commuter rail train started acting loud and threatening toward some Black Muslim girls, and when bystanders tried to politely intervene without using force, the guy pulled out a razor and slashed the throats of two of the three bystanders, killing them, and seriously wounding the third.
I think the charge of second-degree manslaughter is an appropriate one. Penny did not initiate the force with the intent to kill. When someone does a rear naked choke like that, their intent is to put someone to sleep.
One could argue — and the family certainly should — that it should be up to a jury to decide what Daniel Penny’s intent was. However, from a prosecutor’s point of view, they’ve got to put forward a case that can be proven beyond a reasonable shadow of a doubt. And I think it would be pretty easy to have a doubt that Daniel Penny went into the encounter or continued the encounter with the intent to kill Jordan Neely.
But if the prosecution goes forward with a second degree manslaughter charge, it’s a smaller hurdle to have to clear, as they only need to prove that Daniel Penny’s actions could reasonably be expected to cause mortal harm, regardless of what his intent was.
Also, understand that in this scenario there is an expectation of a young healthy male, especially one with military training, to be Captain Courageous and intervene on behalf of the weak. That’s more his intent than anything, I believe.
If I were a juror, I don’t know how I’d vote on this case. Testimony of other witnesses will be crucial. All other things being equal, though, you have to wait until someone’s begun using force to respond in kind.
