The acquittal of Marine Daniel Penny by a jury is a verdict for common sense. It is good to see New Yorkers deliver a unanimous “not guilty” decision in respect of the fatal encounter between Mr. Penny and Jordan Neely on an uptown F train at lower Manhattan. The presiding judge, Maxwell Wiley, had earlier dismissed the prosecution’s most serious charge, for manslaughter. Mr. Penny had moved for a mistrial. Now, he has an acquittal.

That acquittal is also a verdict on District Attorney Alvin Bragg — and not a positive one. These pages noted on Friday that a deputy of Mr. Bragg, Dafna Yoran, who prosecuted the case, appeared to be angling for a compromise verdict, a strategy the judge furthered by refusing to call a mistrial. The jury, which had been deadlocked on the manslaughter charge, today refused to find that Mr. Penny was negligent. He still faces a civil suit from Neely’s father.

Talk about sliding doors. Our Marie Pohl relates how Mr. Penny, an architecture student on his way to the gym, just barely made the train — he stuck his hand in the doors as they closed. Also in that car was Neely. One witness described his behavior as “Satanic,” and another found him to be so “belligerent and unhinged” that she hid her five year old child behind a stroller. Mr. Penny put him in a chokehold for six minutes, and Neely subsequently died.