Share and Follow
NEW YORK (AP) — A recent ruling by a federal judge has blocked prosecutors from pursuing the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The decision, handed down on Friday, thwarts the Trump administration’s efforts to seek capital punishment for what they described as a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed the federal murder charge that would have allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty, citing technical flaws in the charge. She stated that her decision effectively prevents the death penalty from being considered by the jury during deliberations on Mangione’s conviction.
While Garnett also dismissed a related firearms charge, she upheld stalking charges that could result in a life sentence for Mangione. To pursue the death penalty, prosecutors needed to prove that Mangione committed another “crime of violence” alongside the murder; however, stalking does not meet this legal criterion, as Garnett noted, referencing case law and legal precedents.
In a partial victory for the prosecution, the judge ruled that evidence found in Mangione’s backpack at the time of his arrest could be used in court. This evidence includes a 9 mm handgun and a notebook where Mangione allegedly outlined his plan to target an insurance executive. Mangione’s defense team had argued for the exclusion of these items, claiming the search was conducted without a warrant.
The decisions made by Judge Garnett may still be subject to appeal. Efforts to reach a spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which is handling the case, have so far been unsuccessful.
Garnett acknowledged that the decision “may strike the average person — and indeed many lawyers and judges — as tortured and strange, and the result may seem contrary to our intuitions about the criminal law.” But, she said, it reflected her “committed effort to faithfully apply the dictates of the Supreme Court to the charges in this case. The law must the Court’s only concern.”
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges. The state charges also carry the possibility of life in prison.
He arrived in court for a conference in the case shortly after the written ruling was issued. His lawyers didn’t immediately comment on the decision but might do so during the conference or afterward.
Jury selection in the federal case is scheduled to begin Sept. 8, followed by opening statements and testimony beginning on Oct. 13. The state trial’s date hasn’t been set yet. On Wednesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office sent a letter urging the judge in that case to schedule a July 1 trial date.
Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, 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, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
Following through on Trump’s campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment, Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered Manhattan federal prosecutors last April to seek the death penalty against Mangione.
It was the first time the Justice Department was seeking to bring the death penalty in President Donald Trump’s second term. He returned to office a year ago with a vow to resume federal executions after they were halted under his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
Garnett, a Biden appointee, ruled after a flurry of court filings in the prosecution and defense in recent months. She held oral arguments on the matter earlier this month.
In addition to seeking to have the death penalty thrown out on the grounds Garnett cited, Mangione’s lawyers argued that Bondi’s announcement flouted long-established Justice Department protocols and showed the decision was “based on politics, not merit.”
They said her remarks, which were followed by posts to her Instagram account and a TV appearance, “indelibly prejudiced” the grand jury process that resulted in his indictment a few weeks later.
Prosecutors urged Garnett to keep the death penalty on the table, arguing that the charges allowing for such punishment were legally sound and that Bondi’s remarks weren’t prejudicial, as “pretrial publicity, even when intense, is not itself a constitutional defect.”
Rather than dismissing the case outright or barring the government from seeking the death penalty, prosecutors argued, the defense’s concerns can best be alleviated by carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case and ensuring Mangione’s rights are respected at trial.
“What the defendant recasts as a constitutional crisis is merely a repackaging of arguments” rejected in previous cases, prosecutors said. “None warrants dismissal of the indictment or categorical preclusion of a congressionally authorized punishment.”