NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Not Guilty Verdict in Daniel Penny Trial, PA Police Question Man in Midtown Killing of United Healthcare CEO, NYC Immigration Law Under Threat, and a Wet Week for New Yorkers

Episode Date: December 9, 2024

WNYC’s Janae Pierre and Ann Givens discuss the not guilty verdict in the Daniel Penny trial. Plus, police in Pennsylvania are questioning a person of interest in connection to the fatal shooting of United Healthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan last week. Also, Mayor Adams is questioning a New York City law that ensures due process for undocumented residents. And finally, the National Weather Service predicts nearly three inches of rainfall by Thursday.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. As you've been hearing, a Manhattan jury has found Daniel Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on an F train last spring. The closely watched trial lasted about seven weeks and included more than 40 witnesses. For more, we're joined by WMYC's Public Safety Editor Ann Givens, who's been following the trial from the beginning. Guinea. And how surprising is this verdict? Almost any verdict would have been surprising in some way. This was a trial and a case that reflected so many of the issues that really have our city so divided and that different people can look at the facts of the case and see them such different

ways from one another that I think just not knowing who was on the jury. and how the facts were going to look to them left us really sort of with a big question mark about what the verdict might be in this case. But that said, I would just say, you know, this has been such a huge case that has really moved this city. And after all this time to end in a not guilty verdict, I do think it's a pretty remarkable outcome and one that people will be talking about for something. time. Yeah, for sure. And I want to note, we're recording this interview just a few hours after the

verdict, but I'm curious, what kind of reaction have you seen or heard so far from the public, elected officials, city leaders? So our reporter was in the courtroom at the time of the verdict, and there was a big reaction in the courtroom is what he told us. There were people cheering. There were people who were yelling in dismay. Jordan Neely's father was escorted from the courtroom. And then there were people who gathered outside the courthouse, and they had a range of reaction, some of them quite angry about the jury's verdict.

One of those people was Shavanna Newsom from the Black Lives Matter movement here in New York. It's not guilty. That's what happened here in America today. No matter the facts, no matter the evidence, a white man can sneak a black man from behind and murder him on a six-minute family. And in addition to Shavanna Newsom, we know that police had a pretty heavy presence in the afternoon

at the Broadway Lafayette train station, which is, of course, the station where the train stopped and where Jordan Neely was taken away by paramedics after this incident. that has been the scene of many protests over time. According to our reporter, there weren't too many people gathered there yet, but it does seem like police are bracing for possible protests. All right, I want to go back to last week. On Friday, the jury was deadlocked,

and later that same day, the judge dismissed the more serious charge against Penny. That was manslaughter. How significant was that? And how do you think that decision influenced the jury? I mean, that's a good question. I think it's probably one that people, with greater legal expertise than mine will be debating for a long time. But I do think it was a very big deal. The jury had been considering this top charge of manslaughter. Manslaughter can carry up to

15 years in prison if a person is convicted. So that is a very serious charge. And the jury came back two different times and said that they could not reach an agreement about whether to convict Daniel Penny on that charge. It was actually prosecutors who supported the judge's decision to dismiss that count, and defense lawyers actually were the ones who objected to dismissing that count. So, you know, I don't know how it influenced the jury. I think there's certainly a question about if the prosecutors wanted that lesser charge considered if their hope was that the jury would be more likely to convict on a lesser charge. But of course, in the end, it seems that they were not and that they were ready to acquit on even that lower charge, which carries a lesser penalty

to up to four years in prison. You know, with this verdict, and I don't know, this may just be my timeline, but it seems like the video has resurfaced. And I'm wondering, you know, how might this verdict shape similar cases going forward, especially around the issue of self-defense? It's a great question. It's a question that our reporters are going to be looking into in the days to come. And I don't really have a great answer to it. But it certainly is interesting that in this case, this person who the jury had to consider whether or not he and other people on the train were feeling a real threat that he was acquitted. I think it's a question that are other juries who are considering similar fact patterns likely to go in the same way that this jury did? are juries in the city right now having additional sympathy for people who do sort of take the law into their own hands in situations that they say feel dangerous to them.

And before we let you go here, I'm wondering, is this the end of this case? Well, I mean, you know, there's no appeal for an acquittal. So I don't see any further place where this case can go in the criminal court. Jordan Neely's father has filed a civil case in the matter. So with this criminal case being over, I think this is when they're going to start being able to move forward with that case and getting all their discovery, you know, where that case could lead and whether there could be an outcome that would be meaningful or that would feel markedly different from the outcome in this criminal case, I think is something that we're going to have to watch play out. That's WNYC's public safety editor and Givens. There's a lot more happening in the New York City metro area. More news headlines after the break.

The NYPD says police in Altoona, Pennsylvania are questioning a person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan last week. NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch identified that name as 26-year-old Louisville. Mijijian, who is now under arrest on weapons charges. The suspect was in a McDonald's and was recognized by an employee who then called local police. Responding officers questioned the suspect who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs as well as a U.S. passport. Tish says police recovered a firearm equipped with a suppressor, both consistent with the weapon

used in the murder. Officials say they also recovered a fraudulent New Jersey ID, which he used. to check into a New York City hospital before the shooting, as well as a handwritten document on his motivation and mindset. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is questioning a city law that ensures due process for undocumented residents. WMYC's Elizabeth Kim has more. New York City's sanctuary law tries to make sure

those at risk of deportation aren't scared of using city services, like reporting a crime or going to the hospital. But as President-elect Trump talks of mass deportations, Mayor Adams is criticizing a 2014 law that ensures due process for immigrants accused of crimes. Federal agents have broad authority to arrest non-citizens, but city officials won't cooperate unless the person is convicted of a serious crime and a judge signs off on the handoff. That's the most recent addition to the law. The city has restricted public officials from turning over undocumented immigrants since the 80s.

A quick heads up on the weather this week. The National Weather Service predicts nearly three inches of rainfall by Thursday. The rain will slow down Tuesday before picking back up overnight into Wednesday. There's a potential for localized flooding later this week, though the precipitation is expected to help the area recover from its historic drought. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 50s this week, with possible wind gust of up to 45 miles per hour on Wednesday. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNW.

Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.