Retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano applauded the verdict of Daniel Penny in New York City on Monday, telling Newsmax the Marine veteran is a "hero."
Penny, who used a chokehold to restrain a homeless man on a New York City subway car in May 2023 that resulted in his death, was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide on Monday.
"Listen, I'm happy with the outcome of the criminal case as well. He can't go to jail, and he shouldn't go to jail. And he's a hero in New York City, obviously not to everybody, but to a lot of us," Napolitano said on "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE."
However, Penny now faces a wrongful death lawsuit filed last week by the family of Jordan Neely, the deceased.
"So, in order to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty, we're talking about 99% of evidence indicating guilt. In the civil case, 51%. So the standard is very different," Napolitano said. "In the criminal case, Daniel Penny didn't have to testify; in the civil case he will be forced to testify."
Napolitano added that Penny cannot countersue.
"[T]hey do have the right to sue [Penny] for wrongful death because there's an argument to be made — again on the civil side where the standard is a lot lesser — that he was instrumental in causing the death of this young man."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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