Dershowitz Blasts Alvin Bragg For Bringing Charges Against Daniel Penny In Case That Could End With ‘Hung Jury’

Noted criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Tuesday over his decision to pursue a criminal case against former Marine Daniel Penny over the death of Jordan Neely.

Neely, 30, died after being restrained by 24-year-old Daniel Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, on May 1, 2023. Dershowitz said that since the trial, which started with jury selection Monday, could easily end in a hung jury, Bragg should not have pursued charges of second-degree manslaughter against Penny.

“I don’t think you bring criminal cases unless they’re clear. I think when there is a plausible interpretation of the facts and law that leads to innocence, you don’t bring the case,” Dershowtiz said. “The case should be compelling. You know, I’ve mentioned this before. Thomas Jefferson, quoted something that was apparently common around the time he was riding in which he said for a criminal statute to be clear and has to be so unambiguous and so clear that a reasonable person can understand it if he reads it while running.”

“He’s running, he’s running, he’s running and he’s carrying the book and reading it, and you have to be able to understand that. Now, is this case sufficiently clear to justify a criminal prosecution? Reasonable people, I think, would disagree with that,” Dershowitz continued. “My own view is, no, I don’t think criminal cases should be brought when there’s a plausible interpretation, a reasonable interpretation of the fact that is consistent with innocence, but um, I know there will be a lot of disagreement with that.”

Earlier in the show, Dershowitz said that any jury in the case probably would not hear about Neely’s past arrests since Penny was unaware of them at the time of the May 1, 2023, incident.

Dershowitz predicted that due to the divided nature of the city, he did not expect the jury to come to a unanimous verdict.

“The case is being brought. There will be a trial, there will probably not be a plea bargain and prediction likelihood of a hung, jury possibility of a conviction, possibility of an acquittal,” Dershowitz said. “I think the possibility of either and acquittal of conviction are lower than the possibility of a hung jury.”

Republished with permission from The Daily Caller News Foundation.