Daniel Penny demands dismissal of civil lawsuit from Jordan Neely's father

Daniel Penny's legal team wants a civil judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Jordan Neely's father - and make him cover the legal costs - after Penny was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide for a chokehold that put an end to a violent outburst of death threats on a Manhattan subway car.

Andre Zachery sued Penny in December, alleging that Penny negligently assaulted, battered and seriously injured Neely, causing his death.

"All injuries or damages sustained by Plaintiff as alleged in the Verified Complaint, if any, were caused in whole or in part by the culpable conduct, negligence, carelessness, and lack of care on the part of Plaintiff, and any recovery against this Defendant must be diminished in proportion to Plaintiff's relative wrongdoing, fault, misfeasance, malfeasance, failure to exercise due care and/or other culpable conduct," Penny's attorneys countered in an answer to the lawsuit filed on Monday.

In a statement, Penny's lawyers Steven Raiser aand Thomas Kenniff noted that they had successfully defended their client from criminal charges brought by the "largest and most resourced" district attorney's office in the country.

"The result was a full acquittal and a verdict that underscored New Yorkers' belief in their right to defend themselves and their neighbors from random violence," the told Fox News Digital. "We are committed to defending this ill-conceived civil action brought by Jordan Neely's estranged father with same the vigor with which we defended the criminal case."

Zachery's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student, was charged for the subway chokehold death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia who barged onto the train shouting death threats while high on a type of synthetic marijuana known as K2. It happened on May 1, 2023.

Subway crime has plagued the city in recent years, and there was an atmosphere of fear among riders.

In that climate of fear, witnesses said they were terrified by Neely, who shouted death threats at them.

But legal experts have predicted Neely's family may fare better in civil court, where there is a lower standard of guilt.

Prosecutors have to convince jurors of criminal charges beyond "reasonable doubt." In a civil case, the plaintiff's attorneys must prove their case based on a "preponderance of evidence," more likely true than not.