I can’t think of a jurisdiction where the law, case law and governing rules would allow this after a trial started, let alone after the jury had been deliberating for several days. This is obviously an attempt to avoid a hung jury in hopes they will convict on the lesser offense. The moral of the sad Penny saga is stay out of New York City, but if you have to be there, don’t lift a finger to help anyone threatened by a villain whose skin coloration is black. Under these Kafkaesque circumstances the Good Samaritan would have kept his head down and gone about his business.
Manhattan and DC are in a tight competition for the worst trial judges in the nation (and the worst jury pools as well).
“Lawfare.”
New York City’s #1 Hit, Off Broadway.
Legal Q Don:
Do jurys know when a DA is trying to game them and how do they typically respond?
Refusal to render a verdict on a charge would seem to be contrary to his right to trial. As such, could he not appeal to a higher jurisdiction for decision?
Thoughts?
The rule in leftist states is that if a black man dies and a white man was in the vicinity, then the white man murdered the black man.
This became clear in this case when the medical examiner testified. Neely died of asphyxiation, but Neely was high on K2 and had sickle cell anemia, which could have explained this. Now this by itself does not mean that Penny did not contribute to the asphyxiation, but it is a moot point because the examiner herself said that the other causes weren’t even considered. That is, once she saw Penny on the video, she did not care at all about anything that could be in the toxicology report. The video showed that a white man was near him when he died, ergo it was murder.
I think any guilty verdict would be reversed on appeal on any number of grounds. The fact that we are talking about the New York State appellate system gives me pause, however.
What juries know and do not know is beyond guessing. When I have spoken to jurors after trials, I have sometimes been dismayed, and I keep that reaction to myself, by how little that was going on they grasped. I do not blame the jurors. They are draftees into an increasingly rococo system that often defies common sense. Jurors I think, by and large attempt to take their responsibilities seriously, but the way our legal system has developed makes it increasingly difficult for them to ferret out the truth.
The fact that it has taken this long mean that some number of jurors are voting to convict this man of the most serious charge, manslaughter. What a disgrace. Once jurors were citizens protection against unfair prosecutors. No more. Depending on the jurisdiction you are tried in is determinatives as to whether or not you will get a fair trial. I am amazed at the fact that many advocate trying many for the criminal acts of the Biden Crime Family when the venue would almost certainly be the District of Columbia. Good luck with that. Over 90% of that jury pool voted for Harris. All they need to know is that you are a Trump supporter. Most D.C. Judges are also corrupt.