Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg accused of trying to 'strong-arm' jury into convicting Daniel Penny over death of Jordan Neely

Former US Assistant Attorney Andy McCarthy has accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of attempting to "strong-arm" the jury into convicting Daniel Penny in the high-profile case involving the death of Jordan Neely.

The remarks came after a judge overseeing the case dismissed the manslaughter charge against Penny on Friday following a jury deadlock. Jurors will now deliberate on a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. McCarthy criticized the prosecution's handling of the case in a piece for the National Review, alleging Bragg’s team intentionally overcharged Penny to secure a conviction.

“Bragg added a baseless recklessness charge to the indictment so the jury would have two counts, increasing the odds of conviction by giving the jury something to compromise on,” McCarthy wrote. He further argued that the case lacked the elements necessary for a recklessness charge, which requires proof of a wanton disregard for an obvious risk of death.

McCarthy also appeared on Fox News, where he criticized Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Dafna Yoran’s request to dismiss the top charge and focus the jury’s deliberations solely on the lesser count.

“Today, the jurors have been Allen-charged to try to strong-arm them into deciding the count despite indicating, after three days, that they were deadlocked,” he claimed.

According to the Daily Mail, the difference between the charges is whether Penny’s actions constituted recklessness versus negligence when he restrained Neely with a chokehold. A manslaughter conviction would require proof the defendant recklessly caused another person’s death, while criminal negligent homicide involves engaging in “blameworthy conduct” without regard for its risk.

McCarthy explained that “There is evidence that Penny moved Neely into a position that would make breathing easier, waited for the police to come and fully cooperated with them, and did not even know Neely was dead when he voluntarily spoke to police and explained what happened — that he wasn't trying to hurt Neely, just subdue him until the police arrived.”

“Now, after the jury could not find Penny guilty of recklessness after four days — and how disturbing it is that one or more jurors were apparently in favor of doing so — the judge is letting Bragg remove the recklessness count from the case. It will go down as an acquittal for Penny on that charge, so he is no longer facing a potential 15-year prison term. For the jury, however, it makes the hard work of the last four days pointless,” he added.

Testimony during the trial revealed that Neely was under the influence of drugs when he became erratic on the subway and began threatening passengers, which led to Penny’s intervention of putting him in a chokehold to restrain him.

If the jury remains deadlocked on the remaining charge, the case could end in a mistrial, with the possibility of the prosecution retrying the case before a new jury.