Welcome home, fellow Gator.

The Gator Nation's oldest and most active insider community
Join today!
  1. Hi there... Can you please quickly check to make sure your email address is up to date here? Just in case we need to reach out to you or you lose your password. Muchero thanks!

Daniel Penny found NOT Guilty of criminal negligent homicide.

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by OklahomaGator, Dec 9, 2024.

  1. wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

    30,267
    1,911
    2,218
    Apr 19, 2007
    Indeed, the homeless guy harmed far less people than the CEO
     
    • Come On Man Come On Man x 1
  2. citygator

    citygator VIP Member

    12,035
    2,629
    3,303
    Apr 3, 2007
    Charlotte
    If his family wants "justice" and someone will do it for a reasonable fee - lawyers will take up high profile cases I assume.
     
  3. 92gator

    92gator GC Hall of Fame

    14,525
    14,451
    3,363
    Jun 14, 2007
    I suppose... in John Grisham movies anyway.
     
  4. 92gator

    92gator GC Hall of Fame

    14,525
    14,451
    3,363
    Jun 14, 2007
    Good luck with that.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Like Like x 1
  5. CaptUSMCNole

    CaptUSMCNole Premium Member

    3,435
    235
    393
    May 23, 2007
    NCR
    If this case advances, it will most likely be done on a contingency basis as it does not look like the family is in a position to afford the legal bills associated with a case like this. I'm just not sure this case is going to be "high profile" enough for any lawyers to make a name for themselves with it since they will not likely get paid enough to cover their costs.
     
  6. Donzo

    Donzo GC Hall of Fame

    1,620
    504
    298
    May 20, 2008
    Or, the CEO helped millions of people and the homeless guy has been terrorizing the subway for years.

    You've spun a disgusting comparison into a pathetc spin.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  7. wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

    30,267
    1,911
    2,218
    Apr 19, 2007
    Saying a health insurance CEO helped anyone, let alone millions is the most pathetic thing someone has written here lol
     
  8. gaterzfan

    gaterzfan GC Hall of Fame

    1,899
    385
    1,713
    Feb 6, 2020
    Apparently local police in PA have detained a suspect in the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
     
  9. VAg8r1

    VAg8r1 GC Hall of Fame

    21,466
    1,794
    1,763
    Apr 8, 2007
    Good questions. Obviously speculation the chances are that Daniel Penny probably doesn't have sufficient assets to justify civil litigation. If Penny is sued the attorney representing Neely's father would be doing so primarily for the publicity not for a big payday.
     
  10. GatorJMDZ

    GatorJMDZ gatorjack VIP Member

    25,410
    2,709
    1,868
    Apr 3, 2007
    This was procedurally very odd, I've never seen this happen before.

    Penny was indicted on two counts: 1:Manslaughter in the Second Degree. 2: Criminally Negligent Homicide, with the first count being the more serious of the two.

    The jury was apparently instructed they had to reach a verdict as to count 1 before they could move onto count 2. That is not how it works in Florida, each count can be considered independently. Florida juries ARE instructed when dealing with lessor included offenses to consider the most serious offense first before considering the lessors. That is not what happened in NY.

    Penny's jury came back a few times indicating they were hung as to count 1, the only count they were considering. Penny's attorney asked for a mistrial which, if it had been granted, would have allowed for a second trial on that count. Instead, the PROSECUTOR asked the judge to dismiss the first count, so the jury could move on to deliberate count 2. The judge granted that request. Since the dismissal was done at the request of the state after jeopardy attached (jury panel sworn), a second prosecution on count 1 would be barred.

    The prosecutor obviously had some change of heart. Had he agreed with defense counsel's mistrial motion, count 1 could have been retried. I don't know if he simply wanted it over with, or after all the evidence was in felt the evidence didn't support the count 1 charge or thought if they were split as to count 1, he had him on count 2. I doubt if we'll ever know that thought process.


    https://manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Indictment.pdf
     
    • Fistbump/Thanks! Fistbump/Thanks! x 1
  11. CaptUSMCNole

    CaptUSMCNole Premium Member

    3,435
    235
    393
    May 23, 2007
    NCR
    If the lawyers are doing it primary for the publicity, do you think they would have to win the case to achieve the benefit of the publicity?
     
  12. GatorFanCF

    GatorFanCF Premium Member

    5,251
    1,021
    1,968
    Apr 14, 2007
    Do you purchase or use health insurance?
     
    • Come On Man Come On Man x 1
  13. wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

    30,267
    1,911
    2,218
    Apr 19, 2007
    Why? Do you think paying a claim is ‘helping people’ ? And it’s not like the ceo is personally involved in that either.
     
  14. GatorFanCF

    GatorFanCF Premium Member

    5,251
    1,021
    1,968
    Apr 14, 2007
    Per above:

    Why? Because if you use the type of product his company offers then you’re acknowledging there is value in what he offers. Do you think paying a claim is ‘helping people’ ? Paying a claim is simply fulfilling an insurance company’s obligation in the contract. And it’s not like the ceo is personally involved in that either. If you believe this then the evil you associate with the CEO goes out the window.
     
    • Winner Winner x 2
  15. l_boy

    l_boy 5500

    13,024
    1,742
    3,268
    Jan 6, 2009
    I recall when the incident happened but I haven’t heard a lot of subsequent details. Was there greater detail revealed on how threatening the guy was before Penny put him in a choke hold?

    I have mixed feelings on this. Penny didn’t ask to be put in this position and the victim clearly had a history of violent and extreme behavior. On the flip side, I could see my autistic son, who is not small, getting angry and yelling at someone when in fact he is no real danger.

    The tragedy is this guy was still out roaming around in public in spite of his violent history and his mental illness and drug use.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • Winner Winner x 1
  16. BLING

    BLING GC Hall of Fame

    8,948
    882
    2,843
    Apr 16, 2007
    This guys company was apparantly the absolute worst in terms of rejecting claims. So I think it’s safe to say your take is more accurate.

    I’m sure some degree of claims are appropriate to be denied, but if an insurance company is denying way more claims than average they are inevitably messing around denying a bunch of valid claims. That means actively causing suffering, unnecessary stress, and even deaths of patients. If we want to say a health insurance CEO is “saving lives”, then at least “be average” in this area, or improve and take the company out of "last place" FFS.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2024
  17. BLING

    BLING GC Hall of Fame

    8,948
    882
    2,843
    Apr 16, 2007
    The CEO isn’t personally denying claims, but he sets the baselines and goals of the company and could definitely make those changes if he wanted to. Albeit there might be blowback from their board and investors. Classic conflict of interest between capitalism and “good healthcare”, the goals don’t always line up. Insurance margins can always be boosted by denying more claims, as I said above some degree of claims are probably reasonable to deny in *any* system, but an insurer blowing away the rest at claim denials is probably screwing over a bunch of legitimate people and bullying them in litigation.

    Your point may be valid if UNH was already “the worst” at denying claims before this guy got there and will continue to be so under the next MBA bot that is installed. So it may just be their corporate culture of being more aggressive at denying claims as opposed to anything the murder victim did to steer them that way (frankly it would be interesting to see a 10 year comparison on this of all the different insurers claims rejection rates, if one exists). But regardless of whether he pushed this, I wouldn’t say he had “nothing to do with it” as the CEO is the most visible cog in the machine at any company.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2024
  18. antny1

    antny1 GC Hall of Fame

    5,466
    2,849
    2,698
    Dec 3, 2019
    Apparently UHC denies so many claims they literally outsource their denials to another company who gets paid on the denials. How filthy is that?

    TikTok - Make Your Day

    And the company they outsource to sounds like a movie bad guy entity...

    Homepage | EviCore by Evernorth
     
    • Informative Informative x 3
  19. magnetofsnatch

    magnetofsnatch Rudy Ray Moore’s Idol Premium Member

    1,067
    290
    1,783
    Apr 10, 2020
    North Florida
    Comparing Neely to the healthcare CEO is hilarious. Not shocked by the usual suspects on this thread.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Winner Winner x 2
  20. BLING

    BLING GC Hall of Fame

    8,948
    882
    2,843
    Apr 16, 2007
    I think my original take on this was the guy went too far and charges were definitely warranted. This case seemed to fall out of the news after charges were brought.

    It wasn’t as obviously depraved as the George Floyd killing , but similarly weren’t bystanders also telling him he was killing the guy as he continued choking him? I don’t think the issue was that the guy intervened, but that he had opportunity to stop short of kiling the person and failed to do so. Not sure what mitigating circumstances the jury decided on.