Daniel Penny's chokehold manslaughter trial set back by 'nightmare' jury selection

A criminal proceedings to find nan destiny of a Marine seasoned who killed a homeless achromatic man by placing him successful a chokehold connected a train is being held up by a nightmarish assemblage action process.

Daniel Penny, 26, will look a assemblage of his peers in a mammoth proceedings expected to return six weeks, to find whether he is blameworthy of negligent homicide and manslaughter.

He placed Jordan Neely, 30, successful a chokehold connected a New York City subway successful May 2023 successful an effort to subdue the Michael Jackson impersonator.

Neely had been behaving erratically connected nan train and, according to Penny, threatening those astir him. He still had a beat erstwhile first responders arrived and issued a dose of Narcan, which is usually utilized to dainty supplier overdoses.

The incident divided nan federation and sparked wide debate, making it each nan much important for nan Manhattan Supreme Court to prime a neutral 12-person assemblage panel.

The assemblage action process successful this lawsuit has been agelong and drawn out, already extending beyond a week and without a azygous locked-in juror to show for it.

An estimated 450 New Yorkers were called into nan courtroom past week arsenic Judge Maxwell Wiley tried to weed retired candidates who couldn't beryllium considered based connected scheduling availability.

About 149 imaginable jurors were asked to return for further questioning, astatine which constituent Judge Wiley reportedly said: 'If you activity for an hourly wage, and you cognize your employer won't salary you for much than 3 absent days, fto america cognize now.' 

The authorities of New York pays jurors $40 a time for their service, and nan rule states employers only person to salary for 3 days worthy of assemblage duty.

On a proceedings anticipated to past six weeks, nan tribunal has indicated it will return into information whether a person's information connected nan assemblage would costs them money.

While a imaginable juror's race, age, gender and socioeconomic position are communal considerations successful trials, successful this case, a person's usage of nan subway and experiences connected nationalist carrier will besides beryllium interrogated and analyzed. 

The emergence of nan 'work from home' civilization since nan Covid pandemic has besides constricted really often galore New Yorkers usage nan subway.

Of nan 20 imaginable jurors who underwent a 2nd information of questioning connected Friday, astir said they utilized nan subway astatine slightest occasionally. Many said they'd besides seen strangers person outbursts while transiting. 

The group was divided connected whether they'd ever felt threatened aliases unsafe by strangers' behavior.

They were besides questioned astir whether they had ever served successful nan military, taken self-defense classes aliases had immoderate acquisition pinch intelligence illness, supplier maltreatment aliases homelessness.

Four were formally excused from nan trial, while nan remainder are still nether consideration. 

More prospective jurors returned connected Monday to acquisition nan aforesaid statement of questioning. 

Judge Wiley hopes to person locked successful nan 12-person assemblage by nan extremity of this week, paving nan measurement for nan proceedings to statesman adjacent week. 

Penny faces up to 19 years down bars if convicted connected some counts.

He maintains his innocence.