Luigi Mangione’s notebook writings, gun seized from his backpack will be allowed in upcoming murder trial, judge rules

By Nicki Brown, Kara Scannell, CNN

(CNN) — Some evidence found in Luigi Mangione’s backpack at the time of his arrest will be excluded from his upcoming trial, a New York judge ruled Monday, though other key items – including a 3D-printed gun and writings expressing frustration with the healthcare industry – will be allowed.

Although some of Mangione’s belongings were tossed from the case, the mixed ruling is largely a victory for prosecutors, who will be able to show jurors the so-called “manifesto” and the firearm they say was used to kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Mangione’s attorneys argued local police illegally searched his backpack when he was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s in December 2024, days after Thompson was fatally shot on a Manhattan sidewalk. Officers continued searching the bag at the Altoona police station before seeking a search warrant later that day.

Judge Gregory Carro ruled prosecutors can use the gun and a red notebook with handwritten entries at trial. Those items, among others, were retrieved as part of a valid search according to the Altoona Police Department’s protocol, Carro wrote in his order.

But items found during the initial search at the McDonald’s – including a loaded magazine, passport, wallet, cell phone and computer chip – will be excluded. Although police officers said they searched the bag at the time in part because they feared it may contain a weapon, Carro found that justification did not hold up to scrutiny.

“However, while the body-worn camera footage showed that officers did express concern at the scene that the backpack might contain a bomb, there was no evidence that a gun was a concern or that it was the basis for the search,” the judge wrote. “But even if it were a legitimate concern, there was no possibility at the time of the search that the defendant might retrieve a gun from the backpack, and thus no exigency.”

Mangione’s defense attorneys had pushed for the backpack’s contents to be barred from the state’s case because they allege it was searched illegally, without a warrant. Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office denied the defense claims and insisted the searches were legal and proper.

Carro’s ruling comes months after a nine-day suppression hearing that included hours of footage from police body-worn cameras showing how the arrest unfolded and testimony from multiple law enforcement officers about the searches.

The suppression hearing gave the public a glimpse of some of the “very powerful evidence” prosecutors have in this case, said CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson.

“Jurors are going to be able to hear all about that notebook and all of the various evidence that goes to his intent and how he identified what he was doing, why he was doing it, et cetera,” Jackson said. “They’re going to see the gun, the silencer, and I think jurors are going to be very concerned about that.”

The case has generated a national debate and put a spotlight on public sentiment about the American healthcare system. Mangione has seen an outpouring of support on social media and at the courthouse, even as officials – including then-Attorney General Pam Bondi – have roundly condemned the killing as a “cold-blooded assassination.”

The Ivy League graduate faces second-degree murder and eight other charges in the state’s case, which is scheduled to go to trial in September. He also faces federal charges related to Thompson’s killing, in addition to state charges in Pennsylvania stemming from his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Mangione, 28, entered the courtroom Monday wearing a dark blazer with his hands shackled while a group of his supporters sat in the back of the courtroom. “It’s the same trial twice,” one woman’s shirt read, echoing Mangione’s outburst following a hearing earlier this year – an apparent reference to his dual prosecutions.

Carro on Monday also partially granted a defense motion to suppress statements Mangione allegedly made to law enforcement before his December 19, 2024, extradition to New York.

Mangione’s attorneys argued police did not properly read their client his Miranda warnings – which advise a person of their rights to remain silent and consult an attorney – before they began questioning him at the McDonald’s. Carro ruled most of Mangione’s alleged statements could be admitted, finding many regarded personal information or safety concerns or were spontaneously given.

Mangione’s defense attempted to get much of the same backpack evidence thrown out of the federal prosecution, but the judge overseeing that case denied their motion earlier this year.

“(T)he entire contents of the Backpack fall squarely within several exceptions to the warrant requirement,” US District Court Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in her January order.

Although Garnett sided with federal prosecutors on the backpack evidence, Mangione’s defense team has won other legal victories, including getting the top charges in his New York state and federal cases dismissed – which consequently removed the death penalty from the latter case.

Carro’s ruling aside, officials have said they have other evidence connecting Mangione to the scene of the crime. His DNA and fingerprints were recovered from several items discarded by the shooter near the crime scene, prosecutors said in court documents.

In a brief statement Monday, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said, “We look forward to presenting our case at trial on September 8.”

Attorneys for Mangione did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carro set a virtual appearance for June 3 to discuss scheduling related to the upcoming state trial.

The backpack search

Police responded to the McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a manager called 911 to report one of the patrons looked like the suspect in the recent CEO shooting in New York. Bodycam footage shows two officers approaching Mangione, who was sitting in a corner of the restaurant with a plastic bag and brown paper bag on the table in front of him. A black backpack was on the ground near his feet, the police testified at the December hearing.

When the officers asked Mangione for identification, he told them his name was Mark Rosario and handed them a fake New Jersey driver’s license bearing that name, they testified. Prosecutors say the shooting suspect used a New Jersey license with the same name to check into a Manhattan hostel days before the killing.

About 20 minutes later, after police warned him against using a false name, he told them his real name was Luigi Mangione.

As officers took down his personal information, one asked Mangione why he initially lied about his name.

“I clearly shouldn’t have,” Mangione responded.

Shortly after, a police officer read Mangione his Miranda rights before he was frisked and handcuffed behind his back.

Police began searching his backpack on a table at the restaurant and removed a loaded magazine wrapped in a pair of underwear as well as a Faraday bag – which blocks cell signals – containing a passport, a phone and a wallet.

Officers transported the bag to the Altoona police station, where they continued searching the bag and recovered multiple articles of clothing, toiletry items, a silencer and a 3D-printed gun. The District Attorney’s Office says the weapon matches ballistic evidence from the Manhattan crime scene.

At the station, police methodically took pictures of Mangione’s property, including pages of handwritten entries from a red notebook that the District Attorney’s Office has described as a “manifesto.”

“I finally feel confident about what I will do. The details are coming together. And I don’t feel any doubt about whether it’s right/justified,” Mangione wrote in an entry dated August 2024, according to prosecutors’ court filings. “I’m glad-in a way-that I’ve procrastinated (because) it allowed me to learn more about (UnitedHealthcare).”

“The target is insurance. It checks every box,” he wrote, according to the filings.

During the December hearing, two officers acknowledged they read some of the writings as they photographed the pages.

Police did not seek a search warrant for the bag until later that evening, about seven hours after they first opened the backpack, Mangione’s defense attorneys wrote in a court filing. Prosecutors said Altoona officials sought the warrant to facilitate the transfer of Mangione’s belongings to New York investigators, not to authorize the search of his possessions.

The District Attorney’s Office argued police were justified in searching the bag because they were concerned about public safety and properly followed procedures for searching and cataloging an arrestee’s possessions. The evidence could also be permitted if prosecutors prove it would have been inevitably discovered legally during the course of the investigation.

The defense argued the searches were outside the scopes of the various search policies and police were illegally looking for incriminating evidence rather than performing legitimate safety or inventory searches.

Mangione’s alleged statements

Mangione’s defense attorneys also tried to throw out alleged statements he made to law enforcement before his extradition to New York – which encompasses most of his conversations with police at the McDonald’s as well as things he allegedly told officers while in a police car, at court and behind bars in Pennsylvania.

Mangione’s attorneys said his statements should be tossed because law enforcement violated his right to counsel and illegally interrogated him both before he was read his Miranda warnings and after he invoked his right to remain silent.

The District Attorney’s Office argued officers properly questioned Mangione and all his statements should be admissible.

Carro ruled most of Mangione’s alleged statements could be admitted, since many involved safety concerns or “pedigree information,” such as his name, where he was from and his age.

However, the judge found Mangione was in custody at the McDonald’s roughly a minute before he was read his Miranda rights, so a handful of statements he made in that time span should be excluded, including his responses to a questions about why he lied about his name and whether he had a fake ID. His responses to later questions invoking his right to remain silent could also not be admitted, Carro ruled.

Mangione’s defense team also tried to toss statements he allegedly made to officers while in custody in Pennsylvania.

At the December hearing, a police officer who accompanied Mangione to his arraignment in Pennsylvania testified the defendant looked at the sea of reporters at the courthouse and said, “All these people here for a mass murderer. Wild.”

Corrections officer Tomas Rivers testified that while Mangione was in custody, they discussed the differences between private and nationalized healthcare as well as media coverage of the case. Another corrections officer said Mangione told him he had a backpack with foreign currency and a 3D-printed gun.

However, both said they did not tell anyone about these conversations until they were questioned by prosecutors last year.

The judge ruled Mangione’s alleged statements to the officers can also be admitted, finding they were spontaneous and not in response to questioning.

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