The attorneys of Daniel Penny expressed their astonishment at the events that transpired during the final days of the trial: "Unprecedented."

Daniel Penny's defense attorneys have spoken out for the first time since their client was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, expressing their shock at how the final days of the trial played out.

On "The Story" Tuesday, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff expressed their concerns about the trial's direction after Judge Maxwell Wiley dismissed the second-degree manslaughter charge against Penny following the jury's inability to reach a unanimous decision on the top charge.

The judge instructed the jury to consider the second charge of criminally negligent homicide, which Raiser said was "unprecedented" because it potentially encourages a "compromise verdict."

"If you have a deadlocked jury, you don't want to tell them that you know why they can't agree on the lesser count, right? The law is set up in a way that this doesn't happen," he told MacCallum.

Raiser expressed concern that a guilty verdict on the top count might influence the jury's decision on the second count.

"We initially believed that a hung jury was the best we could hope for, but we were uncertain. Additionally, we felt that there was some interplay in understanding the lengths the district attorney's office would go to secure a conviction, which was unsettling for the defense team. We had never experienced anything like it before."

The jury's not-guilty verdict was celebrated by Penny, 26, and his legal team at a bar in Lower Manhattan.

Although Penny still faces a civil lawsuit from Neely's father, Andre Zachery, Kenniff hopes his client takes a nice long vacation following the case.

Penny is accused by Zachery of causing his son's death through "negligence, carelessness and recklessness" and seeks unspecified damages for assault and battery, as stated in a civil complaint.

If someone tries to profit off this tragedy, we will push back with equal vigor, as stated by Kenniff regarding Zachery's suit against Penny.

Penny, a Marine veteran, will continue to pursue his architecture degree but will always carry the "scars" of the ordeal with him.

He condemned any threatening behavior towards his client and the agitators' threats following the trial's outcome, asserting that Penny should hold his head high as he was found not guilty by a jury of his peers.