Assistant DA Dafna Yoran began her opening statement in the trial and initial descriptions of Daniel Penny not by his name, but as “that white man” until Penny’s attorney objected enough for the judge to reprimand Yoran and made her stop.
Eight months ago…
Former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny
Manhattan judge has set Daniel Penny’s trial date for Oct. 8, the next step in an unjust, Kafkaesque ordeal that should have never begun.
It’s a travesty that the charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide against the 25-year-old Marine veteran weren’t dismissed (and that they were brought in the first place), a point made that much more obvious by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office declining to press charges last week, after Younece Obuad shot DaJuan Robinson in self-defense on the A train.
Penny was acting in defense, too — of himself and other riders — when he put Jordan Neely in a chokehold on a Manhattan F Train on May 1, 2023, after the 30-year-old homeless man had been ranting in an “insanely threatening” way to the point where other passengers were hiding and praying, according to court docs.
And last June, a month after Penny’s arrest, a grand jury refused to indict Jordan Williams for stabbing a man who attacked him on the J train.
These tragedies all have similar themes and outcomes, so why is Penny still in legal hell, at risk of a 19-year prison sentence, when Obuad and Williams both went free?
Daniel Penny waived his right to counsel and agreed to an interview with NYPD detectives. They could find no probable cause to arrest him. However, 10 days later the Manhattan DA’s office issued a warrant for his arrest.
This is her partner and lover. She’s an artist and her name is Ana De Orbegoso.
The jury has heard closing arguments and is deliberating as we speak.
Finally, Chuck DeVore writes:
As Solzhenitsyn explained, the Soviet state reserved for itself the monopoly on force, punishing self-defense as a form of insubordination. Such policies deliberately cultivated fear and compliance, demoralizing citizens and teaching them to rely solely on the state for protection — a state that often failed to provide it. Solzhenitsyn recounted the case of soldier Aleksandr Zakharov, who, when sentenced to 10 years for murder for defending himself from a hoodlum’s attack, asked, “And what was I supposed to do?” To which the prosecutor responded, “You should have fled!”
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