Daniel Penny’s defense may have been handed a ‘partial victory’ in a dropped case, a legal expert has said

Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett suggested that Daniel Penny’s defense may have been “partially successful” after Judge Wiley granted prosecutors’ motion to dismiss the aggravated manslaughter charge on Friday.

“With [dropping the charge]Judge Wiley made a mistake that appears to be reversible so that if the judge throws out the lesser charge next week, it will be overturned on appeal. Why? Because the judge contradicted his earlier decision that the jury could only consider the second count if they found Penny not guilty of the first count. Guess what? That didn’t happen,” Jarrett said on “Hannity,” Friday, hours after the prosecutors’ plea was granted.

“Now the judge is allowing the judge to do what he said he couldn’t do. And the defense is right. This is coercion, kind of forcing the judge to rule by changing the rules after the fact. It’s not just unusual, it’s legal. It’s wrong,” he continued.

DANIEL PENNY ‘HIGHLY DECEIVED’ BY ‘UNJUSTICE’ CHARGE, LAWYER ARGUES: ‘JUSTICE’S REST’

“The judge’s only decision was to declare a mistrial and dismiss one case during deliberations and retry the rest of the case. You can’t do that. To me, this is a clear violation of Penny’s due process rights.”

Veteran Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, who also appeared on “Hannity,” told guest host Tammy Bruce that the case was going to have a “hung jury” from the start, speculating that jurors were judging based on prior convictions.

Penny’s lawyer said in a statement on Friday that they are “very hopeful” that the remaining count will be dismissed by a judge on Monday, which will allow the “nightmare” to be put behind them so they can focus on the civil case that awaits them.

LEADER DANIEL PENNY PROSECUTOR FOUND CRIMINAL WHO KILLED 87-YEAR-OLD ATM.

Protesters shout for Daniel Penny from Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, NY on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

“…[This would] allow us to focus on the case filed two days ago, with the same allegations contained in the criminal case,” the statement continued.

Penny is accused of driving 30-year-old Neely to his death after Neely told passengers on the New York City subway that someone was “going to die today” and that he didn’t care about going to jail. life.

Penny was charged with involuntary manslaughter in Neely’s death, but that charge was dropped after two unsuccessful attempts by a jury to reach a unanimous verdict.

Jurors will instead consider a lesser charge of negligent homicide when court resumes on Monday.

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