I don’t know if Mangione will take a plea or push his case to trial. He doesn’t have much to lose because there is no death penalty in New York and he’s facing life either way. But I can’t recall a murder case where there was such a possibility of jury nullification.

And all of them have political undertones. Half the country was unhappy Bragg even filed the Trump and Penny cases, and now some people consider Mangione a hero of sorts.

Juror fatigue is real and explains the change. Otherwise, we have a jury that did not understand the assignment.

I'll be discussing with @lauracoates.com on @cnn.com tonight.

But what is surprising is at least one juror (or maybe more) was willing to convict on the more serious manslaughter count on Friday but changed their mind and acquitted on the less serious negligent homicide count today.

The prosecution conceded self-defense at the beginning of the chokehold but argued that Penny should have released it after several minutes. That’s a nuanced argument that jurors may not understand. The prosecution’s witnesses also testified that they feared Neely and were happy Penny intervened.

The negligence verdict can be used against Penny in the civil lawsuit, so it will just be a question of damages and not liability.

An analogy is that someone can run a red light, kill someone, and be guilty of negligent homicide, but it wouldn’t be manslaughter unless they’re under they’re racing or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  Recklessness requires more.

It’s becoming less likely, but the jury can still find that Penny was negligent and he’s responsible for killing Neely, but he wasn’t criminally reckless and guilty of manslaughter.

But it’s also a loss because that means the jury didn’t unanimously agree on his self-defense or medical causation arguments. Either of those would have resulted in a complete acquittal. That, of course, assumes the jury is following the instructions and knows what it’s doing.

These are case studies on how NOT to handle a criminal prosecution

YSL: by overcharging RICO and 17 defendants, taking a year for jury selection, introducing rap lyrics as evidence, and dealing with scandal after scandal during the trial, which resulted in time-served plea deals despite you asking for decades in prison and not guilty verdicts.

Donald Trump: by delaying and filing last, charging 19 defendants to slow the case even further, hiring her boyfriend as special counsel, and not anticipating that Trump may get re-elected, so she ran out of time and will have to dismiss.

I’ll assume the lawyers were genuine, but they’ve made other questionable (at best) statements like blaming the government for leaking the 2016 video when CNN got the copy, and saying the pads said “legal” when it was added after the fact. If they keep it up, they’ll continue losing credibility.

Diddy should plan on being in custody until trial, and this makes it more likely that he will push the case to trial as quickly as possible, so we can expect a trial in May 2025 or shortly thereafter.

4. The video of Diddy beating Cassie Ventura “is direct evidence of Combs’ violence” and shows “propensity for violence.” The judge also cited the text messages between the two in the hours after the beating. The video and other digital evidence in the case will be the reason Diddy is convicted.

3. Diddy’s defense attorneys can’t control their client, or they lied. They told the judge that Diddy stopped using an app to contact witnesses as of November 16, but Diddy still used it AFTER the bail hearing on November 24.

2. Diddy is his own worst enemy. He continues to break MDC rules, including making 3 ways calls to contact and tamper with witnesses.

1. The fact that Judge Subramanian conducted a 2 hour hearing and issued a 5 page written order leads me to believe that he is very deliberate (some may say slow) and wants to make sure he isn't overturned on appeal. Neither is typical for a bail hearing, and the previous judges quickly denied bail.

I think we all would rather he make history in the private sector than run the DOJ to the ground.