The jury in Daniel Penny’s manslaughter case may have been deadlocked, but Phil Mickelson’s opinion is clear.
The 54-year-old golfer shared a post from political commentator Collin Rugg on X that called Penny a “model citizen…that every mayor of every city should want more of,” a “hero” and a “breed of young men who are becoming less and less common.”
Before the most serious charge was dismissed, Penny was on trial for second-degree manslaughter for killing Jordan Neely after placing him in a chokehold on a subway.
Neely died later on.
Phil Mickelson and Daniel Penny (Imagn I AP Newsroom)
Mickelson agreed with Rugg’s words.
“Agree. Thank you Daniel for serving your country and for protecting the many passengers whose lives were threatened by this violent and deranged individual,” Mickelson wrote.
Despite the jury being deadlocked, the judge sent jurors back to deliberate more Friday morning, but they told the court shortly after 3 p.m. they still could not reach a unanimous decision.
Phil Mickelson during a practice round before The 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon July 15, 2024, in Troon, Scotland. (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
The judge initially ruled the jury could not deliberate on the second charge unless they found Penny not guilty of manslaughter for some reason other than that the chokehold was justified. However, after jurors said they were deadlocked a second time, Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Dafna Yoran asked to have the most serious charge dismissed to allow the jury to debate the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, which carries a maximum punishment of four years in prison.
The charge requires prosecutors to prove Penny acted with recklessness when he grabbed Jordan Neely in a chokehold. Neely barged onto the train while high on drugs, threatening to kill passengers during a psychotic episode, according to trial testimony.
Neely was a 30-year-old with schizophrenia who said someone was going to “die today” and that he didn’t care about going to prison for life. Penny grabbed him from behind in a chokehold to halt the outburst.
Daniel Penny departs the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York City Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital )
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Neely later died. He had an active arrest warrant at the time. He was high on K2, a synthetic marijuana drug that functions as a stimulant, and his lengthy criminal record included an alleged 2021 assault on a 67-year-old woman at another subway station.
The jury will break for the weekend and deliberate on a lesser charge, criminally negligent homicide, on Monday.
Fox News Research contributed to this report.
