Luigi Mangione returns to state court for first time in months

By Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell, CNN

(CNN) — Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old man accused of gunning down the former UnitedHealthcare CEO, is due back in state court Tuesday, where the judge presiding over his case is poised to rule on defense motions.

Mangione’s defense is seeking to dismiss his murder indictment because he faces federal charges for the same killing, and they want the judge to suppress evidence seized at the time of his arrest and statements he made to law enforcement.

Mangione is accused of killing Brian Thompson as the executive walked toward a hotel hosting UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference in Midtown Manhattan late last year.

The subsequent dayslong manhunt captured national attention as investigators shared details of Mangione’s alleged writings and the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” written on bullets and shell casings found at the scene.

The shooting is among a surge of politically motivated attacks across the US, including last week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah.

Mangione’s appearance in New York City will be his first in state court since February.

Supporters have flocked to Mangione’s court hearings, often wearing green clothes and carrying signs. He has raised more than $1.2 million in an online fundraiser since his arrest last December where donations are as small as $5.

He faces a possible life sentence if convicted in New York state court, and the Justice Department announced in April that it will seek the death penalty against Mangione in its federal murder case against him.

Defense cites double jeopardy

Mangione’s attorneys say the state charges should be dismissed as a violation of the Constitution’s double jeopardy clause, calling it unprecedented and untenable for Mangione to defend himself in both cases at the same time.

The defense motion to dismiss the indictment cited past prosecutions of high-profile mass shooters when state prosecutors deferred to their federal counterparts or declined to add state charges to the mix.

Federal and state officials have said the state’s case will go first, which his attorneys have strongly opposed because the possible penalty is “less serious” than the federal death sentence he faces.

The defense motion accuses the district attorney’s office and federal prosecutors of “colluding to obstruct Mr. Mangione’s ability to meaningfully defend himself.”

At a minimum, Mangione’s attorneys have asked the judge to consider allowing the federal death penalty case to move forward first.

If Mangione is convicted in a highly publicized prosecution, it’d be impossible for him to find a fair and impartial jury in a later federal trial, his attorneys have said.

Prosecutors balked at the defense’s asserted concern over publicity, pointing to Mangione’s regularly updated website about the case maintained by his defense team and the GiveSendGo donation page.

The defense has asked Judge Gregory Carro to suppress any evidence found in the backpack including the gun, loaded magazine, and his writings, which reveal Mangione’s detailed thinking before the shooting, according to a previous court filing. They also moved to suppress any statements Mangione made to law enforcement after his December 9 arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, until December 19, when he was extradited to New York.

Manhattan prosecutors have defended the actions and said they’re open to the defense request for Carro to hold hearings about whether those statements and the materials recovered from his backpack should be kept out of his trial.

Terrorism charges at issue

Mangione was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last December on 11 counts, including first-degree murder and second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism, along with other weapon and forgery charges.

The first-degree murder charge alleges he killed the executive “in furtherance of an act of terrorism,” which is legally defined as an intent to intimidate or coerce the civilian population or a government unit.

Another defense motion argues the terror-related charges should be tossed because crimes of terrorism as defined in New York state legislation refer to attacks on multiple civilians, not a shooting of a single individual.

Prosecutors said in their response filing that Mangione’s calculated assassination of Thompson, the CEO of the nation’s largest health insurance company who he had no personal connection to, was meant to “violently broadcast a social and political message to the public at large.”

But writings recovered from his backpack during his arrest “make clear that Mr. Mangione was not looking to terrorize any community,” his attorneys wrote. Mangione never publicly released his private writings, which address his views on health care and include a letter addressed to the FBI, which his attorneys say proves he didn’t intend to cause wide intimidation of a population.

They also blame law enforcement for leaking his writings and calling them a “manifesto.”

“This would have been an alleged murder of a man outside a hotel. Instead, the police leaked what was written on the bullets; the police leaked Mr. Mangione’s alleged writings; and the police called these alleged writings a manifesto – a term synonymous with terrorism. None of this was done by Mr. Mangione. It was law enforcement that created the air of terrorism surrounding this alleged crime and who now seek to blame Mr. Mangione for the hysteria and fear they created.”

Mangione’s lawyers have yet to say whether they will seek to rely on a psychiatric defense.

There won’t be video of the hearing Tuesday morning but press cameras are expected to capture Mangione coming in and out of the courtroom, and photographers will be permitted to take photos of Mangione at the defense table before the proceedings begin.

The-CNN-Wire
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