By Emma Tucker, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell, CNN
Luigi Mangione, accused killer of US insurance CEO Brian Thompson, attends a hearing at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City. Photo: AFP / STEVEN HIRSCH
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a busy Manhattan sidewalk, appeared in court for a status hearing on Friday (local time) in New York City.
Mangione arrived with his hands and ankles shackled, wearing a bulletproof vest over a green sweater - matching many of his supporters in and outside the courtroom, who also wore green. Judge Gregory Carro denied a request from one of Mangione's attorneys to remove the shackles.
The 26-year-old has pleaded not guilty to state charges but has yet to enter a plea on federal murder charges related to the killing of Thompson as the executive walked toward the hotel hosting UnitedHealthcare's annual investor conference in Midtown Manhattan on 4 December.
Prosecutors reviewed the evidence they've turned over to the defence, including police body camera footage, police reports, surveillance videos, data from a cell phone dropped at the scene of the crime, autopsy reports, the medical examiners' forensic files and forensic DNA testing materials. More materials still need to be turned over to Mangione's legal team, prosecutors said.
Judge Carro scheduled Mangione's next hearing for 26 June and set a schedule for his legal team to submit motions over objections from his defence.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, one of Mangione's attorneys, said she is primarily focused on ongoing talks with federal prosecutors who haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty and wants access to all discovery materials before she submits motions.
"There are three separate prosecutions that are happening about one event," said Agnifilo, referring to the federal, New York State and Pennsylvania charges against her client.
She also said she believes Mangione's constitutional rights were violated when officers seized his belongings during his arrest in Pennsylvania.
She plans to challenge some of the evidence taken by law enforcement at the time. "I think there is a very, very serious search issue in this material," she said. "There might be evidence that might be suppressed in this case."
The defence attorney also complained she has limited access to Mangione, who is being held in a federal detention centre in Brooklyn while he awaits trial.
Luigi Mangione, accused killer of US insurance CEO Brian Thompson, attends a hearing at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City. Photo: AFP / STEVEN HIRSCH
Friday's hearing attracted dozens of supporters and observers - a reflection of public fascination with the killing and Mangione himself. Agnifilo was greeted with applause and cheers when she arrived at the courthouse.
Signs of sympathy and support for Mangione dotted the scene outside the courtroom Friday morning. In the hours ahead of the hearing, dozens of people lined up for the chance to observe the proceedings, and supporters waved signs reading "Free Luigi" and "Healthcare is a Human Right." Posters of the CEOs of other major health care corporations appeared nearby the court, with the word "WANTED" emblazoned above a picture of each executive.
Inside the courthouse, would-be attendees - many of them young women - packed the hallway, some sporting "Free Luigi" apparel.
Friday's hearing took place in the same courtroom where President Donald Trump faced criminal trial in a hush money case last year.
A Manhattan grand jury has indicted Mangione with an 11-count indictment, which includes one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, 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. One of the second-degree counts also alleges Mangione committed murder "as a crime of terrorism."
He faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted, according to the Manhattan District Attorney.
Prosecutors have argued Mangione expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives, a relatively mainstream position in modern American politics.
The shackled feet of Luigi Mangione, accused killer of US insurance CEO Brian Thompson, are seen as he attends a hearing at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City. Photo: AFP / STEVEN HIRSCH
The public was captivated by the week-long manhunt for Thompson's alleged killer, which ended when a customer and a worker at a Pennsylvania McDonald's reported Mangione to the police.
When Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania, investigators allegedly found on him the fake ID used by the suspect, the gun they believe was used in the shooting and a handwritten "claim of responsibility," authorities have said.
A charge of murder in the first degree is rare in New York because it requires special elements related to the crime to be charged.
Under state law, murder in the first degree only applies to a narrow list of aggravating circumstances, including when the victim is a judge, a police officer or a first responder, or when the killing involves a murder-for-hire or an intent to commit terrorism.
"This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation," District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in December.
Mangione was first arrested and taken into federal custody, but officials have since said his state trial will proceed first.
At his state court hearing in December, Agnifilo, Mangione's attorney, expressed concerns about her client's ability to obtain a fair trial, specifically citing Mayor Eric Adams' presence among the dozens of heavily armed law enforcement officials as he was extradited to Lower Manhattan from Pennsylvania.
"He's a young man and he's being treated like a human ping pong ball by two warring jurisdictions here," she said. "They're treating him like a human spectacle."
The judge told Agnifilo her client's trial would be fair, adding, "We will carefully select a jury."
Mangione releases first statement behind bars
Investigators in New York say Mangione, a former high school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate born into a well-to-do family, appeared to be driven by anger against the health insurance industry and "corporate greed," according to a New York Police Department intelligence report obtained by CNN.
Mangione has received widespread public support, from offers to help pay for his legal bills to an extended applause at the mention of his name in a comedy bit on "Saturday Night Live."
The killing of Thompson, a husband and father of two, unleashed what some observers describe as Americans' pent-up anger and frustration with the nation's health insurance industry.
Mangione released his first statement from prison last week on a new website created and linked to by his attorneys at the law firm Agnifilo Intrater.
"I am overwhelmed by - and grateful for - everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support," reads the statement from Mangione.
"Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions, as mail has flooded MDC from across the country, and around the globe. While it is impossible for me to reply to most letters, please know that I read every one that I receive," the statement continued.
The website was created to help keep the public informed on his New York case updates, it says.
Mangione could face the death penalty in federal case
The federal criminal complaint charges Mangione with murder through use of a firearm, two stalking charges and a firearms offence. His next court hearing for the federal charges is scheduled for 19 March, according to his attorneys.
Writings laid bare in a notebook found in Mangione's possession, authorities said, helped investigators build the federal case against him, a well-planned homicide involving stalking the movements of his alleged victim.
An entry dated 15 August, reads: "The details are finally coming together," according to the federal complaint unsealed in December. "I'm glad - in a way - that I've procrastinated," Mangione allegedly wrote, saying it gave him time to learn more about the company he was targeting, whose name was redacted by prosecutors.
He could face the death penalty if found guilty of the federal murder charge, while the state charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors have not indicated whether they will seek the death penalty, and the decision would ultimately need to be approved by the US Attorney General.
Earlier this month, Mangione beefed up his legal team by adding Avraham Moskowitz, an attorney experienced in death penalty cases. Moskowitz has represented more than 50 defendants charged in death penalty-eligible cases in New York, according to court filings and Mangione's attorneys.
The private practice attorney will work as a specialist with Mangione's lead attorney Agnifilo. "The charges could not be more serious and our client needs every resource at his disposal to fight these unprecedented charges in three jurisdictions," a spokeswoman for the law firm Agnifilo Intrater said in a statement.
Moskowitz was recommended by the Federal Defenders of New York to join as "learned counsel," or an attorney with deep experience in this highly specialized area of law - a common practice in death-penalty eligible cases.
- CNN
