Luigi Mangione will not face a federal trial over the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson until January 2027, after a federal judge concluded that the defendant’s state murder trial makes it difficult to proceed on the original timetable.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett announced Monday that jury selection in the federal case will begin Jan. 5, 2027, with opening statements scheduled for Jan. 25. She estimated the trial, which was originally slated for October, would last two to three weeks.
“As you know, I had hoped with perhaps undue optimism to preserve a possibility of a fall trial in this case,” Garnett said during a brief hearing in Manhattan federal court. But with Mangione and his attorneys preparing for his Sept. 8 state trial, she said they would be unable to meaningfully participate in federal jury selection.
“In my view, it’s simply impossible for us to be moving through the jury selection process in this case while the defendant and his counsel are fully engaged in the state trial,” Garnett said.
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty in both his federal and state cases stemming from the Dec. 4, 2024, fatal shooting of Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel. State prosecutors have charged him with murder and weapons offenses, while federal prosecutors allege he stalked Thompson before carrying out the killing.
Mangione, wearing beige jail clothing, did not speak during Monday’s roughly 20-minute hearing. His appearance was delayed after he became stuck in an elevator with U.S. marshals at the courthouse, according to multiple reports.
Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo declined to comment on the case afterward, joking only that she was eager to hear what reporters discovered about the elevator malfunction.
The scheduling decision comes just weeks after Mangione’s state case was briefly thrown into uncertainty over whether his attorneys would pursue a psychiatric defense, which would essentially force him to admit to the murder of Thompson.
During a June 17 hearing, New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro disclosed that defense attorneys had filed notice of a possible “extreme emotional disturbance” defense, which could reduce a murder conviction to manslaughter under New York law.
But after a transcript of a previously sealed conference was unsealed, Mangione’s attorneys withdrew the formal notice, avoiding requirements that they share psychiatric evidence with prosecutors.
Despite that withdrawal, legal experts have noted the defense could still present evidence intended to show Mangione’s mental state without pursuing an extreme emotional disturbance defense.
LUIGI MANGIONE REVERSES PSYCHIATRIC DEFENSE PLAN ONE DAY AFTER FILING
Garnett, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, also outlined plans for the highly anticipated federal jury selection process, saying prospective jurors from Manhattan, the Bronx, and New York City’s northern suburbs will complete questionnaires in December.
She said those questionnaires will remain sealed until all prospective jurors have responded, citing the need to protect the integrity of the jury pool.