Can Trump pardon former marine Daniel Penny in NYC choking case? Ron DeSantis avers 'America's got his back'
Daniel Penny faces charges for fatally choking a 30-year-old homeless man named Jordan Neely on a train in New York City.
Daniel Penny trial's closing arguments will resume on Tuesday. The 26-year-old Marine veteran faces charges for fatally choking a 30-year-old homeless man named Jordan Neely on a train in New York City.
Prosecutors will try to convince the jury in NYC that Penny's actions were inappropriate. On Monday, the defense encouraged Jurors to put themselves in the position of terrified subway passengers.
The prosecution has retorted that Penny's response to Neely was too aggressive and careless.
Penny, who held onto Neely's neck for around six minutes in 2023, claimed that he was protecting other travelers. Therefore, he entered a not guilty plea on allegations of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Neely was declared dead in a hospital. It was determined that his death was a homicide by compression of the neck.
Daniel Penny receives support from Republicans like Ramaswamy
Some well-known Republicans are demanding the release of Penny.
Penny's defense fund has received a $10,000 donation from Vivek Ramaswamy, who will lead Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency alongside billionaire Elon Musk. In a statement, Ramaswamy claimed that his goal was to “restore the rule of law in America.”
Additionally, Penny has received tremendous support from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“Let's show this Marine...America's got his back,” he asserted in a statement on social media.
Can Trump pardon Daniel Penny?
Before the November 5 presidential election, a progressive news website Mother Jones wrote in a May 2023 piece that Trump has been silent about the Penny issue, most likely to avoid upsetting voters.
Trump, however, is more likely to consider pardons now that he has been elected, particularly after President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter, who had been found guilty of gun charges. During the campaign trial, the GOP leader stated frequently that he would release his supporters who had been imprisoned for the US Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.
According to legal experts, presidents don't have the authority to pardon people for state offenses, and the rioters on January 6 were charged with federal crimes.
Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, told Newsweek that the president's pardon authority exclusively covers federal criminal culpability. “It has no bearing on...state criminal liability.”
Trump could potentially order the Justice Department to testify as an amicus in state court for the state case, he added.
If Penny is found guilty, the Justice Department's amicus brief might influence a judge to impose a lesser sentence.
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