The previous U.S. Marine acquitted final month of prison expenses within the loss of life of a person on a New York Metropolis subway prepare is searching for to dismiss a lawsuit introduced by the sufferer’s father.
Daniel Penny’s lawyer, in a courtroom submitting Monday, stated his consumer denies the lawsuit’s claims that the 26-year-old is culpable for civil damages for utilizing a chokehold on Jordan Neely whereas Neely was shouting and performing erratically on a crowded prepare on Could 1, 2023.
Andre Zachery, in a go well with filed final month earlier than a jury cleared Penny within the prison trial, accused the Lengthy Island native of negligence, assault and battery for putting his 30-year-old son in a chokehold for about six minutes, resulting in his son’s loss of life.
However Penny’s lawyer Steven Raiser, in his authorized submitting, stated “all injuries or damages” had been brought on by Neely’s “culpable conduct, negligence, carelessness, and lack of care.”
Raiser, in an announcement, stated Penny continues to keep up his innocence and that his acquittal “underscored New Yorkers’ belief in their right to defend themselves and their neighbors from random violence.”
“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,” he added.
Zachery seeks unspecified damages within the go well with filed in state Supreme Court docket.
The case sparked nationwide debate, with some hailing Penny as a hero who subdued a threatening man whereas others noticed him as a white vigilante who choked a Black man to loss of life.
A Manhattan jury cleared Penny of criminally negligent murder. A extra severe manslaughter cost was dismissed when the jury deadlocked on that depend.
Penny, who served 4 years within the Marines earlier than happening to review structure, did not testify in his personal protection. However he stated in an interview after the decision that he put himself in a “very vulnerable position” within the encounter with Neely but nonetheless felt compelled to behave.
