Attorneys for Luigi Mangione, charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, are urging a New York judge to toss several counts from his federal indictment, among them the only charge that qualifies for the death penalty.
In a series of filings submitted on Saturday, Mangione’s lawyers argue that prosecutors overreached in seeking the death penalty and that police violated his constitutional rights when they arrested and questioned him in Pennsylvania days after the killing.
Mangione is charged with multiple federal offenses, including two counts of stalking, a firearms violation, and one count of using a gun to commit murder, a charge that carries the potential for a death sentence.
POLITICAL VIOLENCE ON THE RISE IN THE US: A TIMELINE OF KEY INCIDENTS
His attorneys argued that the firearms charges should be thrown out because they depend on treating the stalking allegations as “crimes of violence.” They contended that stalking does not meet that legal standard and therefore cannot serve as the basis for the death penalty-eligible count.
Mangione’s lawyers argue that the stalking charges he faces shouldn’t count as “crimes of violence” under federal law. They say stalking can involve things like harassment, intimidation, or causing emotional distress, none of which necessarily involve using or threatening physical force. In their filing, they write that “substantial emotional distress” doesn’t require any actual or threatened violence. The defense also points to recent Supreme Court rulings that have narrowed what qualifies as a “crime of violence.” Because of that, they argue, the charge that allows for the death penalty in this case shouldn’t apply.
Mangione, 27, was taken into custody in December at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after a man matching his description fatally shot the 50-year-old healthcare executive in Midtown Manhattan.
In the filing, Mangione’s lawyers argued that police violated his rights by questioning him at the McDonald’s without first issuing a Miranda warning, as shown in body-camera footage. They also said officers searched his backpack without a warrant and urged the court to suppress any evidence obtained from that questioning or search.
In a notice of motions filed in the Southern District of New York, attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo reconstructs the chaotic days after Thompson’s death on Dec. 4, 2024, when police circulated video of the masked gunman and reported that shell casings at the scene were etched with the words “deny,” “depose,” and “delay.”
On December 9, officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, responding to a tip about a “suspicious male,” approached Mangione as he sat alone at a McDonald’s. According to the defense, body-camera footage shows officers surrounding him, blocking his only exit, and questioning him at gunpoint. They allegedly frisked him twice, moved his backpack out of reach, and eventually searched it without obtaining consent or a warrant. By the time officers read Mangione his rights, roughly 20 minutes had passed, and he had already answered a series of questions while in what his lawyers describe as “de facto custody.”
To support their argument, the defense included a copy of the Altoona Police Department’s policy manual. The manual explains that officers must read Miranda rights anytime someone isn’t free to leave, and that they can search without a warrant only in limited situations, such as when a person agrees to it or there’s an immediate safety concern. By pointing to these rules, Mangione’s lawyers are arguing that the officers broke both federal law and their own department’s policies.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges in both state and federal court in New York and Pennsylvania. His lawyers say being prosecuted in multiple jurisdictions at once puts him in an “untenable situation,” and they’ve asked Judge Gregory Carro to either dismiss the state case or pause it while the federal case proceeds.
Mangione is also facing a court appearance in Pennsylvania, where prosecutors in Blair County have requested that he be brought from federal custody in Brooklyn to attend a pretrial motions hearing on Nov. 7.
TERRORISM CHARGES AGAINST LUIGI MANGIONE IN UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO KILLING CASE DROPPED
He has pleaded not guilty in that case to charges of forgery, possessing an instrument of crime, and providing false identification to police.
Separately, in September, a New York judge threw out two terrorism-related murder charges against him, including the most serious count of first-degree murder, ruling that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to justify the terrorism designation.