The judge in Daniel Penny’s subway chokehold death trial agreed on Friday to dismiss the manslaughter charge against him, leaving jurors only to consider the lesser count of criminally negligent homicide.
Judge Maxwell Wiley’s decision stemmed from prosecutors’ request to dismiss Penny’s second-degree manslaughter charge after jurors deadlocked twice on that count. Jurors were not able to consider the criminally negligent homicide count until reaching a verdict on second-degree manslaughter.
