Daniel Penny and His Legal Team Celebrate Acquittal with Night of Barhopping
Daniel Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, and his legal team celebrated his acquittal in a closely watched manslaughter trial with a night of barhopping in Manhattan. Just hours after the acquittal, Penny was spotted having a beer with his defense lawyers, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser, at Stone Street Tavern in the Financial District. The group later moved on to American Whiskey bar in Midtown.
If convicted, Penny would have faced up to four years behind bars. However, a 12-person jury took just five days to find him not criminally responsible for the death of Jordan Neely, who allegedly died in a chokehold placed by Penny on a crowded subway in May 2023.
Kenniff stated that Penny was looking forward to resuming his life, despite the harm caused by the false accusations. “He’ll be looking to get his life back together,” he said. “The situation like this, we savor the victory, but all the harm that has been done to him just doesn’t vanish. That’s true of anyone who is falsely accused.”
Penny’s lawyers expressed confidence in his innocence from the beginning of the trial. “I’m not surprised by the verdict,” Kenniff said. “On Day 1, we knew that we believed he would be exonerated because the evidence overwhelmingly supported that.” He added that while the verdict came as a surprise in terms of the timing, they were not surprised by the result.
As they left the courthouse, Penny raised a glass with his attorneys, and later, he and his crew were seen sipping pints at American Whiskey, where they were accompanied by his security guards. Spirits were high inside the holiday-decorated bar, with patrons pulling out their phones to take photos of the Marine Corps veteran.