From Newsgroup: nyc.politics
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office has been aggressively
pushing for the media to note that if convicted of second-degree
manslaughter at trial, Marine veteran Daniel Penny faces no mandatory
minimum prison term, Penny's lawyers told the judge this week.
The 26-year-old aspiring architect would face a maximum punishment of 15
years behind bars, if convicted for Jordan Neely's death on a Manhattan F train.
Neely rushed onto a subway car with women and children, shouted that
someone would "die today," and warned that he wasn't afraid to go to
prison for life. Penny grabbed him in a chokehold or headlock, took him to
the ground, and he later died.
"The District AttorneyAs efforts to have the jury speculate as to a
potential sentence are both improper and misleading," Penny's defense
lawyers, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, told Fox News Digital
Wednesday. "While it is technically true that these charges do not carry a mandatory minimum, that is the case with most felonies in New York. It is equally true that the maximum sentence is 15 years in state prison."
LEAD DANIEL PENNY PRSOECUTOR SECURED LIGHT SENTENCE FOR THUG WHO KILLED 87-YEAR-OLD IN ATM ROBBERY
Penny's defense has raised concerns throughout the trial that the
prosecution is overstepping its bounds and unfairly depicting the
altercation as something with racial undertones, even though prosecutors
have not alleged a hate crime.
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"Moreover, the tenacity with which the District Attorney has sought to
obtain a conviction against Mr. Penny strongly suggests that they will advocate for a substantial sentence in the event of a guilty verdict," the attorneys said.
Outside experts said there are a few possible explanations regarding what Bragg's office described as "something factual for context."
"Defense lawyers are barred from mentioning potential sentences at trial u
the reasoning being that it would be an attempt to seek sympathy from
jurors who then may reach a verdict based on something other than the
facts, In other words, aHe may be guilty, but 10 years is too much time,A" said Danielle Iredale, who previously represented New York subway
vigilante Bernhard Goetz in a marijuana case. "Here, there is a hypocrisy
to the DAAs messaging. In attempting to publish the fact that there is no statutory mandatory minimum sentence, they are essentially saying, aItAs
OK to convict, he may not go to the jail!A"
DANIEL PENNY JURORS BEGIN DELIBERATIONS IN JORDAN NEELY SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD
TRIAL
Goetz was involved in one of New York City's most prominent self-defense cases. He shot four teenage muggers with an unlicensed handgun, paralyzing
one of them. Jurors found him not guilty of attempted murder, but he spent several months in jail on the illegal firearm charge. Iredale represented
him in the 2010s on a low-level pot case that was ultimately dismissed.
"ItAs exceedingly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a prosecutorAs office
to use the press to assuage the publicAs concern if they were to achieve a conviction," Iredale, who is barred in New York but now practices in San Diego, told Fox News Digital. "This suggests an awareness on the part of
the DAAs office that public sentiment is not supportive of this
prosecution. This backpedaling raises a serious question as to whether or
not the prosecution even believes they should have brought charges in the first place."
Bragg could be trying to save face after bringing a case against a man
viewed by many of the witnesses as a good Samaritan, according to several legal experts.
TRAIN HERO ALEK SKARLATOS ON DANIEL PENNY TRIAL: aTHIS COULD HAPPEN TO
YOUA
"It appears that [the Manhattan DA] is finally reading the room regarding
the unpopularity and weakness of this case and may be considering asking
the judge for a anon-carceralA sentence in the event of a conviction,"
said Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector, using a term to describe
sentences that don't involve prison time. "And if that's the case, they shouldn't have brought theacase to begin with."
Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams has spoken in defense of Penny.
"WeAre now on the subway where weAre hearing someone talking about hurting people, killing people," Adams said on the Nov. 30 episode of "The Rob Astorino Show." "You have someone [Penny] on that subway who was
responding, doing what we should have done as a city."
Bragg could also be concerned that the judge could impose a light
sentence, regardless of what his prosecutors seek.
"It could be that the district attorney is trying to prepare people for,
aHey, thereAs a conviction, but you know the judge could provide a lenient sentence for this guy,'" said Matthew Mangino, the former district
attorney of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. "And on the other hand it
could be that the way the trial has proceeded, even the prosecution has
said what Penny did is laudable. He stepped in, but he went too far. And
maybe the DA is preparing people for their recommendation of a lenient sentence."
But during her closing arguments this week, Assistant District Attorney
Dafna Yoran aggressively painted Penny as a man without remorse, who
didn't see Neely's "humanity." Penny remained on scene and voluntarily
spoke with police, who did not tell him Neely was dead.
DANIEL PENNY PROSECUTOR DANGLES RACE CARD AGAIN OVER DEFENSE OBJECTION
DESPITE NO HATE CRIME CHARGES
"Penny was standing there for 10 minutes watching resuscitation efforts --
at no point did Penny say, "Oh, by the way, how's that guy doing? Did he
make it?'" she told the jury. "The defendant, as nice and empathetic as we hear he can be, seems to have a real blind spot for Mr. Neely."
Penny, when he spoke with detectives, described Neely as a "crackhead" and raised concerns about a spate of violent subway crimes leading up to the incident u crimes that progressives spent years downplaying with Bragg in office.
"He was talking gibberish...but these guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff," he told detectives. There were more than 20 subway
shoves in the year before Penny's encounter with Neely.
Just three days earlier, a straphanger had been stabbed with an ice pick
on a J train, according to reports from the time. It was about a month
after a PBS reporter got sucker punched on a No. 4 train. There was a
shove a week before that, and the victim hit the side of a moving R train
and survived.
In that climate of fear, witnesses said they were terrified by Neely, who shouted death threats at them.
Witness Ivette Rosario, a 19-year-old student, testified that Neely
shouted someone would "die that day."
But Yoran told the jury that Penny "was so reckless with NeelyAs life
because he didnAt seem to recognize his humanity."
"He saw him as a person that needed to be eliminated," she said.
The defendant's remorse can be a key factor if there is a sentencing. But
it has less to do with guilt.
"Remorse is a big issue at sentencing," said Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles- based trial attorney and former federal prosecutor. "Judges want to see
people who have accepted responsibility for their actions. It doesnAt
really have any impact on guilt or innocence."
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