Retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano said Friday that state of mind is "very important" for the jury in deciding the Daniel Penny case.
"The facts in this case are really beyond dispute," Napolitano told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "The issue is what was Daniel Penny's state of mind when this was happening, and what actually caused the death here? Was it the compression of his neck for 5 minutes and 55 seconds? Try to hold your breath for 5 minutes and 55 seconds. It's not possible. Or was it the preexisting conditions combined with the drugs in his system, exacerbated by the stress of the event with Penny that triggered the death? That's what the jury has to decide."
Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, is on trial for manslaughter in the chokehold death of a homeless man on a New York City subway car last year.
Asked whether the length of jury deliberations was a good or a bad sign for Penny, Napolitano said he thinks there are "probably some holdouts" within the members of the jury.
"I think there's probably a substantial group of the jurors that want to do one thing, and then a small group that want to do the other, and they can't reconcile with each other," he said. "They have asked for read backs of the judge's instruction on state of mind, and the state of mind is very important here. Was Daniel Penny heedless, thoughtless of the fact that he might be causing death, or did he decide that he should continue to do this? Did he make a conscious decision to cause the death? That's what they really have to try and figure out.
"So, they asked for read backs of the expert testimony, they asked for read backs of the judge's instructions, and they asked to view yet again the body camera footage of the police that arrived at the scene, which is very important because that's when Penny spoke candidly, telling the police — never imagining he'd be a criminal defendant — telling the police what he saw and what he did and why he did it," Napolitano added.
The judge predicted that the jury will return a verdict in the Penny case by end of day on Friday.
"Something happens around 2:30 or 3 o'clock on a Friday afternoon in the courthouse," he said. "Everybody wants to go home. They do not want to be sequestered for the weekend and the court does not want them home reading newspaper and other media accounts of this over the weekend. So, there will be tremendous emotional pressure within the jurors to come to a decision today."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com