Description
NEW YORK (TNND) — Luigi Mangione's attorneys are seeking to dismiss the New York state indictment against him for the alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to a court filing.
His defense team argues that the New York indictment against him should be dismissed because " concurrent state and federal prosecutions violate the double jeopardy clause" of the Fifth Amendment.
In the 57-page court filing, his lawyers also cite the 14th Amendment's due process clause and the constitutional rights against self-incrimination.
The December 4, 2024, shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has led to a legal tug-of-war between state and federal prosecutors as they fight for who controls the fate of the 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, the court filing read.
If the indictment is not dismissed, lawyers want terrorism charges dismissed and prosecutors barred from using evidence collected during Mangione’s arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald's last December, including a 9 mm handgun, ammunition and a notebook in which authorities say he described his intent to “wack” an insurance executive.
They also want to exclude statements Mangione made to law enforcement because they did not read him his rights.
Additionally, attorneys said evidence seized from his backpack during the arrest should be suppressed because officers conducted a warrantless search after he was already handcuffed and surrounded by police.
Lawyers further criticized the dual state and federal cases, as well as the third in Pennsylvania, calling it an "unprecedented prosecutorial one-upmanship," adding that prosecutors "are trying to get two bites of the apple to convict Mr. Mangione" of murder.
“Yet, despite the gravest of consequences for Mr. Mangione, law enforcement has methodically and purposefully trampled his constitutional rights,” his lawyers wrote.
The Manhattan district attorney's office said it would respond in court papers.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty in both cases and is being held in a Brooklyn federal jail.
He is due back in court for the state case on June 26, when Judge Gregory Carro is expected to rule on the dismissal request. The next federal court date is Dec. 5, a day after the one-year anniversary of Thompson's death. A trial date has not been set in either case.
Federal charges include murder through the use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty, firearms offense and two counts of stalking.
Last month, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Mangione, following through on the president's campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment.
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi said in a statement. “After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
Mangione’s lawyers argued that the conflicting theories of the state and federal cases — intending to “intimidate or coerce a civilian population" vs. stalking a single person — has created a “legal quagmire” that makes it “legally and logistically impossible to defend against them simultaneously.”
"This situation is so constitutionally fraught that we are hard pressed to find precedent for such an unprecedented situation," Mangione’s lawyers wrote.
_____
Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Other Related News
05/06/2025
ATLANTA Ga Atlanta News First - Given the recent rollbacks of Diversity Equity and Inclusi...
05/05/2025
SAVANNAH Ga Atlanta News First - State Sen Josh McLaurin D-Sandy Springs announced Monday ...
05/05/2025
ATLANTA Ga Atlanta News First - As teams in the National Football League are going through...
05/05/2025
TNND Close to a third of Americans have made purchases with a buy now pay later service A...
05/05/2025