Northeast
Daniel Penny demands dismissal of civil lawsuit from Jordan Neely's father
Daniel Penny’s legal team wants a civil judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Jordan Neely’s father – and make him cover the legal costs – after Penny was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide for a chokehold that put an end to a violent outburst of death threats on a Manhattan subway car.
Andre Zachery sued Penny in December, alleging that Penny negligently assaulted, battered and seriously injured Neely, causing his death.
“All injuries or damages sustained by Plaintiff as alleged in the Verified Complaint, if any, were caused in whole or in part by the culpable conduct, negligence, carelessness, and lack of care on the part of Plaintiff, and any recovery against this Defendant must be diminished in proportion to Plaintiff’s relative wrongdoing, fault, misfeasance, malfeasance, failure to exercise due care and/or other culpable conduct,” Penny’s attorneys countered in an answer to the lawsuit filed on Monday.
DANIEL PENNY FOUND NOT GUILTY IN SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD TRIAL
Daniel Penny and his attorneys Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff arrive at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. Jurors later acquitted him of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)
In a statement, Penny’s lawyers Steven Raiser aand Thomas Kenniff noted that they had successfully defended their client from criminal charges brought by the “largest and most resourced” district attorney’s office in the country.
“The result was a full acquittal and a verdict that underscored New Yorkers’ belief in their right to defend themselves and their neighbors from random violence,” the told Fox News Digital. “We are committed to defending this ill-conceived civil action brought by Jordan Neely’s estranged father with same the vigor with which we defended the criminal case.”
Zachery’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The filing comes a month after Penny’s acquittal in a high-profile and controversial manslaughter trial. Prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the top charge of manslaughter to avoid a hung jury, and jurors ultimately found Penny not guilty of the lesser charge.
We are committed to defending this ill-conceived civil action brought by Jordan Neely’s estranged father with same the vigor with which we defended the criminal case.
Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student, was charged for the subway chokehold death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia who barged onto the train shouting death threats while high on a type of synthetic marijuana known as K2. It happened on May 1, 2023.
JORDAN NEELY’S DAD FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST DANIEL PENNY
Jordan Neeley’s father, Andre Zachery arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday, December 5, 2024. Zachary’s son, Jordan Neely died in 2023 after being put in a chokehold by Daniel Penny on a NYC subway. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Neely had a lengthy criminal record, an active arrest warrant, a history of psychosis and was high. He also had the sickle cell trait genetic disorder.
Subway crime has plagued the city in recent years, and there was an atmosphere of fear among riders.
Just three days earlier, a straphanger had been stabbed with an ice pick on a J train, according to reports from the time. It was about a month after a PBS reporter got sucker punched on a No. 4 train. There was a shove a week before that, and the victim hit the side of a moving R train and survived.
Read Daniel Penny’s verified answer to the civil complaint from Jordan Neely’s father
In that climate of fear, witnesses said they were terrified by Neely, who shouted death threats at them.
But legal experts have predicted Neely’s family may fare better in civil court, where there is a lower standard of guilt.
Daniel Penny was invited to join Donald Trump and J.D. Vance at the Army-Navy college football game after his acquittal. ( X/@DanScavino)
Prosecutors have to convince jurors of criminal charges beyond “reasonable doubt.” In a civil case, the plaintiff’s attorneys must prove their case based on a “preponderance of evidence,” more likely true than not.
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Boston, MA
Red Sox shed light on plans for outfield, including Ceddanne Rafaela’s role
Last year the Red Sox had a unique and enviable problem, which was that at full strength the club had more starting-caliber outfielders than it had available lineup spots.
Injuries kept that from being an issue most of the season, but for some stretches the only way the club could accommodate everyone was by playing Gold Glove center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela at second base.
With Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida and Rafaela all set to return for the 2026 campaign, the Red Sox could face a similar logjam, but both manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow signaled that they’d prefer not to move Rafaela to the infield again.
“We’ll talk about that one, but probably not,” Cora said.
“Ceddanne is an incredibly gifted athlete and can impact a game in so many ways, and it makes it really easy when you can put him at second base or play shortstop for a long time for us like in ’24 when Trevor (Story) was hurt, but he is game-changing in center field,” Breslow said. “We saw that this year, and giving him the consistency of playing the same position every day also has benefits for his offense.”
Rafaela delivered a breakout season in the outfield last year, ranking second in MLB across all positions in defensive runs saved at center (plus-20) en route to his first career Gold Glove.
His impact defensively at second, however, was much more modest. In 24 games at the position he was just plus-one defensive runs saved.
Recognizing Rafaela’s value in the outfield, it was widely expected that the Red Sox would clear a spot by trading one of their incumbent players, most likely Duran or Abreu. But up to this point that hasn’t happened, and Breslow said it was never something he considered an urgent priority.
“It was never likely in my mind,” Breslow said. “We’ve got really talented outfielders and when teams call that’s what other executives point to. They’re young, they’re controllable, they’re dynamic, they’re talented, they can impact games in multiple ways. It’s really nice to be able to say they’re also members of the Boston Red Sox.”
So how will the Red Sox accommodate everyone if Rafaela isn’t going to play second? Cora said he expects to rotate players through more regularly, though he added that Rafaela and Abreu — both Gold Glove winners — will likely play more often than not.
“I think keeping guys healthy is something we always talk about,” Cora said. “They’re good outfielders, all of them, as a unit they’re the best in baseball. We just have to figure out the stadium, workload, and all that, but Willy and Ceddanne, they’re the best in the business, they probably will be playing the most in the outfield.”
Pittsburg, PA
Masontown Borough unanimously votes to reinstate police department
Connecticut
Dog found dead in Willimantic River
A dog was found dead on the ice in the Willimantic River on Friday, according to the Willimantic Police Department.
The Windham Animal Control was notified after a report of a small dog lying motionless near the center of the river close to the waterfall.
Emergency personnel responded and found that the dog was already dead and had been laying on a cardboard box on unstable ice.
While the police and fire department worked to create a plan to rescue the dog, the ice broke apart, and the dog was carried downstream.
It is still unknown how the dog ended up in the river, and what the causes of death were.
Animal control and the Willimantic Police Department are currently investigating the incident and are looking to find out who was involved and how the dog entered the water.
Anyone with information can call the police department at 860-465-3135.
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