Prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the jury rules
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Federal prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge ruled Friday, rejecting Trump’s request to have him executed for what they called a “planned, cold-blooded murder that shocked America.”
US District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed the manslaughter charge against Mangione, finding it technically flawed. He wrote that he did this to “remove the death penalty as an existing penalty that will be considered by the jury” as it decides whether Mangione will be sentenced.
Garnett also dismissed the gun charge, but upheld the stalking charges, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. In order to get the death penalty, prosecutors had to show that Mangione killed Thompson while committing another “crime of violence.” Stalking does not fit that definition, Garnett wrote in his opinion, citing case law and legal precedent.
In a win for the prosecution, Garnett ruled that prosecutors could use evidence collected from his wallet during his arrest, including a 9-mm handgun and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to “rob” an insurance executive.
Mangione’s attorneys sought to exclude the items, saying the search was illegal because police did not have a search warrant.
Decisions may be subject to appeals. A message seeking comment was left for a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, which is prosecuting the case.
Garnett admitted that this decision “may strike the layman – and indeed many lawyers and judges – as arbitrary and unusual, and the result may seem to contradict our ideas about criminal law.”
But, he said, it shows his “committed effort to faithfully apply the Supreme Court’s pronouncements to the cases of this case. The law should be the only concern of the court.”
A New York judge has dismissed a murder charge against Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024. US District Judge Margaret Garnett found the case flawed. Mangione still faces stalking and firearms charges, as well as another federal murder charge.
Mangione pleaded not guilty
Mangione, 27, appeared relaxed as he sat with his lawyers at the hearing, which was scheduled for an hour after Garnett issued his written decision. Prosecutors have reserved their right to appeal the verdict but say they are ready to proceed with the trial.
Mangione’s attorneys did not comment on the verdict during the hearing. But his lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said afterward that her client and his legal team were relieved by the favorable decision.
Jury selection in the federal case is scheduled to begin Sept. 8, followed by opening statements and testimony beginning Oct. 13. A federal trial has not yet been scheduled. On Wednesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office sent a letter urging the judge in that case to set a trial date of July 1.
Thompson, 50, was killed on December 4, 2024, while traveling to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.
Surveillance video shows a masked gunman shooting him in the back. Police said “notify,” “deny” and “dipose” were written on the letters, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Penn., about 370 miles west of Manhattan.
Following Donald Trump’s campaign promise to aggressively pursue the death penalty, Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered Manhattan prosecutors last April to seek the death penalty against Mangione.
It was the first time the Justice Department sought to bring about the death penalty during Trump’s second term. He returned to office last year with a vow that he will be sentenced again by the government after being suspended under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
‘Based on politics, not merit’
Garnett, a Biden nominee, issued the ruling after a flurry of court appeals from the prosecution and defense in recent months. He held oral arguments on the issue earlier this month.
In addition to seeking the death penalty for the reasons cited by Garnett, Mangione’s attorneys argued that Bondi’s announcement flouted long-established Justice Department policy and showed that the decision was “based on politics, not expediency.”
They said his comments, followed by posts on his Instagram account and TV appearances, were “irreparably prejudicial” to the grand jury process that led to his indictment weeks later.
Prosecutors urged Garnett to keep the death penalty on the table, arguing that the cases allowing for such punishment are legally sound and that Bondi’s comments were not prejudicial, as “pre-trial publicity, however intense, is not constitutionally wrong.”
Rather than dismissing the case outright or barring the government from seeking the death penalty, prosecutors argued, defense concerns could be better assuaged by carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case and ensuring that Mangione’s rights are respected at trial.
“What the defendant described as a constitutional challenge is simply a rehashing of arguments” rejected in previous cases, prosecutors said. “No one authorizes the waiver or the phasing out of a sentence authorized by Congress.”
