A legal expert suggests that Daniel Penny's defense may have been given a "partial victory" with the dropped charge.

On Friday, Judge Wiley granted the prosecution's motion to dismiss the most serious charge of second-degree manslaughter against Daniel Penny, potentially giving his defense a "partial victory," as suggested by Planet Chronicle legal analyst Gregg Jarrett.

Judge Wiley's decision to drop the charge created a reversible error, which means that if the jury convicts on the lesser charge next week, it would be overturned on appeal. The reason for this is that the judge contradicted his earlier ruling that the jury could only consider the second count if they found Penny not guilty of the first count. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

The judge is now allowing the jury to do what he initially stated was impossible. This is coercive and effectively forces the jury to convict by changing the rules after the fact. Not only is this unorthodox, it is legally incorrect.

"The judge had no choice but to declare a mistrial on the deadlocked jury and dismiss one charge during deliberations, while also increasing the severity of the remaining charge. This is unacceptable. In my view, it clearly violates Penny's right to due process."

Tammy Bruce, a guest host on "Hannity," was told by Harvard professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz that the trial was likely to result in a hung jury from the start, as he believed that members of the jury were making judgments based on preconceived notions of guilt.

On Friday, Penny's defense stated that they are "cautiously optimistic" that the remaining count will be dismissed by the jury on Monday, allowing them to move on from the "nightmare" and focus on the civil case that is yet to come.

By focusing on the civil lawsuit, we can address the allegations made in the criminal indictment.

Neely was killed by Penny after he threatened to "die today" and didn't care about going to prison for life on a New York City subway.

Neely's death led to Penny being charged with second-degree manslaughter, but the charge was dropped after two unsuccessful attempts by the jury to reach a unanimous verdict.

When court deliberations resume on Monday, jurors will consider the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.