Daniel Penny's days in court are not over after found not guilty in subway chokehold death
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- On Monday, came a verdict in the chokehold trial against marine veteran Daniel Penny.
A jury acquitted Penny of all wrongdoing in the case, but for Penny, his days in court are not over.
He still faces a civil lawsuit.
"We started the lawsuit, not right away. We wanted to see what the evidence was," Neely family attorney Donte Mills said.
The evidence introduced by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office during the five-week Daniel Penny criminal trial was voluminous.
It included cell phone videos of Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold and the testimony of the straphangers who shot the video. Plus body-worn camera videos by responding officers, Penny's police interview, and testimony from the NYC medical examiner who ruled Neely's death a homicide by chokehold.
Prosecutors told the court Jordan Neely presented a threat to passengers for 30 seconds, while Penny maintained the chokehold for nearly six minutes.
"Daniel Penny could have let go before Jordan died. He continued to choke him 50 seconds after he was lifeless. He continued to choke him. There's no reason for that," Mills said.
Family attorneys filed a five-page civil complaint against the 26-year-old former marine last week writing "Jordan Neely's injuries and death were caused by the negligence of Daniel Penny."
Neely's father appeared on ABC News Live with Linsay Davis.
Linsay asked, "If you could talk to Daniel Penny directly, what would you say?"
Andre Zachery replied, "Why didn't say you're sorry, man. C'mon man, why you didn't say nothing."
Linsay followed up with, "Would that have mattered?"
Zachery said, "It sure would have."
"There are different levels of proof in civil cases as opposed to the criminal cases and also different evidence allowed in," ABC News Legal Analyst Rich Frankel said.
The timeline of a civil case could take years. If it goes to trial and not settled out of court, it would either be heard by a six person jury or a judge.
"The plaintiff could bring in other witnesses. They can bring in more witnesses to talk about the victim. They can bring in a different experts. They may get into some more of the psychological side of the victim," Frankel said.
For the civil case, Daniel Penny will be represented by the same attorneys who handled his criminal defense Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser. they say they plan to aggressively fight this wrongful death lawsuit, especially considering Monday's 'not guilty' verdict.
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