UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson killed in Midtown Manhattan by masked gunman in December 2024 (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Guess Who
- Start date
Oh thank you! That's what I wanted to know.
GrandmaBear
Deputized Emu Slayer/Horse Thief Hunter
He is facing charges elsewhere that include the DP.
From the above:
Mangione still faces two separate cases in Pennsylvania and against federal prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty.
From the above:
Mangione still faces two separate cases in Pennsylvania and against federal prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty.
Cousin Dupree
Like Jesus, live your life to help others.
I know @Guess Who explained it, I didn't know. But one of the things I intend to do if I win the lottery is to lobby for stiffer penalties for some laws.
I looked into it some more afterwards and yes, New York has a different way of labeling the degrees of their murder charges. I don’t know why they have to make it different than most other states, but they do.
GrandmaBear
Deputized Emu Slayer/Horse Thief Hunter
Generally first degree murder does not need aggravators or aggravating factors, those are for the death penalty or a further charge. So yeah, it sounds as if they do it differently.
ima.grandma
Believer of Miracles
Attorneys for Luigi Mangione asked a federal judge Saturday to dismiss charges against him, arguing that state and federal officials violated his constitutional rights and damaged his chances for a fair trial.
Mangione is accused of killing Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in December 2024. The high-profile assassination drew national attention in the days after Thompson’s death.
Earlier this week, a New York state judge dropped two terrorism-related charges against Mangione. He still faces a federal murder charge that could carry the death penalty. His defense team is also asking the court to remove the death penalty as an option.
Mangione’s attorneys accuse state and federal prosecutors, along with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, of conduct that violated "Mangione’s constitutional and statutory rights and have fatally prejudiced this death penalty case.”
They said officials failed to note at a December news conference that Mangione is “presumed innocent” while presenting evidence against him.
Defense lawyers also objected to Mangione being “perp walked” before television cameras, calling it an act “purely to dehumanize Mangione and [that] had no legitimate law enforcement purpose.”
The attorneys further criticized the Trump administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said pursuing the death penalty was part of “President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
His lawyers argue that these incidents have undermined Mangione’s ability to receive a fair trial.
While some of the most serious charges were dropped earlier this week, Mangione still faces second-degree murder and weapons charges in the state case, as well as federal counts of murder, stalking and a firearms violation.
From perp walk to press conference: Defense says Mangione can’t get fair trial
Attorneys for Luigi Mangione seek to dismiss murder charges, alleging officials violated his rights and hurt his chances for a fair trial.
www.kbzk.com
GrandmaBear
Deputized Emu Slayer/Horse Thief Hunter
These things didn't poison the jury pool against him, I mean he has his little fan club, so that's for the defense and him. It's the fan club also that hopes to see him and rushes to do so or hopes to, so the perp walk would have made them all happy. The remark about the president is ridiculous and here we go again. This case is about a man who shot someone in the back like a coward,, period. How anyone can think such a coward is a hero is beyond me.
Anyhow, the usual defense crap other than he''s trying to use politics to try to make his client look like a target. He isn't the target, HIS victim was. Evil little POS punk.
Anyhow, the usual defense crap other than he''s trying to use politics to try to make his client look like a target. He isn't the target, HIS victim was. Evil little POS punk.
ima.grandma
Believer of Miracles
Luigi Mangione's Lawyers Urge Judge to Block Death Penalty Over Insurance CEO's Murder
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Luigi Mangione's lawyers urged a federal judge in New York on Saturday to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty for their client, who is charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
In a court filing, Mangione's lawyers argued that U.S. Justice Department officials should be precluded from seeking the death penalty because of actions that had violated his due process rights. They said these included "staging a dehumanizing, unconstitutional 'perp walk' where he was televised, videotaped and photographed clambering out of a helicopter in shackles on his way to his initial appearance."
"Because of the blatant, intentional and damaging nature of this torrent of prejudice from multiple public officials, mainly the United States Attorney General, from the inception of this case through the grand jury vote on April 17, 2025, the death penalty indictment against Mr. Mangione must be dismissed," the motion stated.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty over the shooting death last December 4 of Thompson, who led UnitedHealth Group's insurance unit. Thompson was gunned down outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel where company executives were attending an investment conference.
Public officials condemned the killing, but many Americans expressed sympathy for Mangione, 27, saying they shared his frustration with steep U.S. healthcare costs and the power of health insurers to refuse payment for some treatments.
Concern about escalating political violence in the U.S. has grown since Thompson's killing, especially after last week's assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office have until October 31 to argue for keeping the death penalty as an option if Mangione is convicted. He faces charges of interstate stalking and murder.
The case is overseen by U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett. In seeking the death penalty for Mangione, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 1 called Thompson's death "a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America."
Lawyers for Mangione have called that announcement "unapologetically political," and said prosecutors breached normal protocols by not first conducting a lengthy investigation or giving defense lawyers a chance to push back.
Mangione's next federal court appearance is on December 5, and Garnett has said she may then set a trial date for 2026.
If Garnett allows the death penalty and a jury convicts Mangione of murder, the same jury would consider whether he should be executed.
Mangione also faces nine state-level criminal counts, including murder. On Tuesday, New York state judge Gregory Carro dismissed two terrorism charges against Mangione.
New York's death penalty was declared unconstitutional in 2004, but the ban applies in state cases, not federal cases.
Mangione faces up to life in prison if convicted in his state case. The next hearing there is scheduled for December 1, and no trial date has been set
Tresir
Well-known member
From the Reuters link above.
NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Public statements by Justice Department officials about Luigi Mangione, the man charged with killing an insurance executive last year, violated a court rule meant to protect criminal defendants against publicity that could prejudice a jury pool against them, the judge overseeing the case said on Wednesday.
In a written order, Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett instructed prosecutors to advise Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to tell other Justice Department officials that any further violations could result in punishments including financial penalties or contempt of court.
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Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Brian Thompson, the former chief executive of UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N), opens new tab insurance unit. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in his case.
Garnett's order came after Mangione's defense lawyers in a Tuesday night court filing said statements made by several Trump administration officials had jeopardized his chances of getting a fair trial.
They pointed to a Justice Department spokesperson's September 19 X post referencing a comment President Donald Trump made in a September 18 interview with Fox News asserting that Mangione "shot someone in the back as clear as you're looking at me."
"POTUS is absolutely right," the spokesperson, Chad Gilmartin, said in the since-deleted post.
Mangione's lawyers also pointed to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calling Mangione a "left-wing assassin" in a September 22 news conference.
Neither the Justice Department nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Public statements by Justice Department officials about Luigi Mangione, the man charged with killing an insurance executive last year, violated a court rule meant to protect criminal defendants against publicity that could prejudice a jury pool against them, the judge overseeing the case said on Wednesday.
In a written order, Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett instructed prosecutors to advise Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to tell other Justice Department officials that any further violations could result in punishments including financial penalties or contempt of court.
Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter. Sign up here.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Brian Thompson, the former chief executive of UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N), opens new tab insurance unit. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in his case.
Garnett's order came after Mangione's defense lawyers in a Tuesday night court filing said statements made by several Trump administration officials had jeopardized his chances of getting a fair trial.
They pointed to a Justice Department spokesperson's September 19 X post referencing a comment President Donald Trump made in a September 18 interview with Fox News asserting that Mangione "shot someone in the back as clear as you're looking at me."
"POTUS is absolutely right," the spokesperson, Chad Gilmartin, said in the since-deleted post.
Mangione's lawyers also pointed to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calling Mangione a "left-wing assassin" in a September 22 news conference.
Neither the Justice Department nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
Last edited:
Guess Who
Well-known member
It would be a shame if this quashes what should be an easy case to win. They are giving the defense the giddies with it.
www.courthousenews.com
Erik Uebelacker / October 9, 2025
MANHATTAN (CN) — Late Wednesday night, federal prosecutors tried to put out a fire in one of their marquee cases.
A federal judge had scrutinized Department of Justice officials for sharing inflammatory social media posts about Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old Maryland man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of Manhattan last year.
In one instance, Chad Gilmartin, deputy director of the department’s public affairs office, shared a clip of President Donald Trump saying in an interview that Mangione “shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me.”
“@POTUS is absolutely right,” Gilmartin said in a now-deleted X post, which was then reshared by Associate Deputy Attorney General Brian Nieves.
Finding that those officials seemingly breached court rules on prejudicial pretrial statements, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett demanded answers. In a three-page filing Wednesday night, federal prosecutors argued these individuals are not sufficiently associated with the case since they’re not on the prosecution team.
“Nonetheless … upon becoming aware of the repossessed statements, the department promptly directed that the posts be removed,” they wrote.
The debacle represents one of the many new challenges prosecutors face under the second Trump Justice Department. In addition to questionable indictments of political opponents and terminations of prosecutors deemed nonloyal, Justice Department attorneys must also deal with an unprecedented vocality in its officials that, evidently, has already interfered with one of their flagship cases.
No matter what the judge rules — she has floated fines, contempt of court findings or “relief specific to the prosecution of this matter” — the situation is a good one for Mangione, according to veteran New York City criminal defense attorney Ron Kuby.
“Every moment in court that’s spent discussing governmental misconduct is not spent discussing the guy with a bullet in his back,” Kuby, who has represented several high-profile murder defendants, told Courthouse News.
Mangione’s defense team raised these concerns about the pretrial publicity in their motion to block the death penalty. As well as the posts from Gilmartin and Nieves, they took issue with public statements made by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who famously announced that the Justice Department would be seeking capital punishment against Mangione weeks before securing an indictment.
“I was a capital prosecutor,” Bondi told Fox News 11 days before a federal grand jury indicted Mangione. “I tried death penalty cases throughout my career. If there was ever a death case, this is one.”
Mangione’s lawyers claimed this and other statements from Bondi prove the Justice Department brought the death penalty “unabashedly for political reasons.” They also directed ire toward the White House, questioning how a fair jury can be selected when the executive’s top officials — including the president — continue to imply Mangione’s guilt in public statements.
Federal prosecutors say they’ll respond to those accusations against the White House in a later filing. For now, they’ve tried to assure the Joe Biden-appointed Garnett that no punishment is necessary for the officials’ social media activity.
“The defense offers no evidence that any prospective juror has been exposed to or affected by the reposted content,” they wrote.
Garnett is yet to rule. But it’s all a welcome distraction for any defendant, according to Kuby.
“As a defense lawyer, I want to focus on anything other than what my client is accused of doing,” he said. “And the Trump DOJ makes that easy.”
Meanwhile, the government is now fighting battles on two fronts; not only are they trying their murder case, but they’re also needing to answer for the social media activity of their superiors.
“High-profile cases and trial work in general take up an enormous amount of energy, focus and attention, and any distraction or deviation from that focus is not helpful to the trial team,” said former federal prosecutor Justin Danilewitz, now a white-collar lawyer at Saul Ewing LLP. “This unquestionably would take some amount of attention away from the day-to-day work of prosecuting the case.”
Danilewitz is less than convinced by the government’s argument that Gilmartin and Nieves are not adequately “associated with” the prosecution team. He said that, in his experience, judges have been reluctant to distinguish between the government and the prosecution — let alone accept a distinction between the trial team and the prosecuting agency itself.
“Prosecutors never speak about their cases in public,” said former Brooklyn prosecutor Sarena Townsend, now the owner of Townsend Law in New York City. “Everybody knows that. And the reason you don’t is exactly because of this. You do not want to unfairly prejudice the case or the defendant.”
Some of Mangione’s most fervent supporters hope these pretrial statements will be enough to get the case dismissed altogether or perhaps serve as the basis for tossing the death penalty on their own. That would be an “astonishing” result, according to Kuby.
Still, the statements could kneecap prosecutors’ ability to prove the necessity of capital punishment in the long run. They could also erode the public’s trust in the Justice Department ahead of the case.
Townsend said the statements about Luigi — from Gilmartin, Nieves, Bondi, even Trump — “really backfired because the general populace, especially in New York, don’t really look at that favorably.”
“Your jury pool is potentially looking at this and just being so mistrustful of law enforcement and of the prosecutors,” she said.
When Garnett does rule, her order could have a far-reaching effect on high-profile prosecutions across the country.
Trump administration officials have not shied away from making public statements about the suspect in right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk’s killing, for example. And while that case is currently being handled by local prosecutors in Utah, not the Justice Department, the statements nonetheless give the defendant’s lawyers something to latch onto.
“In an otherwise very strong, long prosecution case, where there might be very little for the defense to work with, these are unforced errors by the government,” Danilewitz said. “It’s on the mind of most defense lawyers that there’s an opportunity that could present itself from these missteps by the government.”
“It broadly puts the entire Department of Justice on notice about the perils of public statements, particularly in the most controversial cases,” he added.
For Kuby, he could only describe the situation with one word.
“It’s stupid,” he said. “But from my perspective as a defense lawyer, I find this level of obdurate incompetence to be delightful.”
Legal experts say Trump DOJ tweets make life harder for prosecutors
Social media posts from Justice Department officials have already drawn the ire of Luigi Mangione’s federal judge.
www.courthousenews.com
Legal experts say Trump DOJ tweets make life harder for prosecutors
Social media posts from Justice Department officials have already drawn the ire of Luigi Mangione’s federal judge.Erik Uebelacker / October 9, 2025
Luigi Mangione is escorted into Manhattan state court in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A federal judge had scrutinized Department of Justice officials for sharing inflammatory social media posts about Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old Maryland man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of Manhattan last year.
In one instance, Chad Gilmartin, deputy director of the department’s public affairs office, shared a clip of President Donald Trump saying in an interview that Mangione “shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me.”
“@POTUS is absolutely right,” Gilmartin said in a now-deleted X post, which was then reshared by Associate Deputy Attorney General Brian Nieves.
Finding that those officials seemingly breached court rules on prejudicial pretrial statements, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett demanded answers. In a three-page filing Wednesday night, federal prosecutors argued these individuals are not sufficiently associated with the case since they’re not on the prosecution team.
“Nonetheless … upon becoming aware of the repossessed statements, the department promptly directed that the posts be removed,” they wrote.
The debacle represents one of the many new challenges prosecutors face under the second Trump Justice Department. In addition to questionable indictments of political opponents and terminations of prosecutors deemed nonloyal, Justice Department attorneys must also deal with an unprecedented vocality in its officials that, evidently, has already interfered with one of their flagship cases.
No matter what the judge rules — she has floated fines, contempt of court findings or “relief specific to the prosecution of this matter” — the situation is a good one for Mangione, according to veteran New York City criminal defense attorney Ron Kuby.
“Every moment in court that’s spent discussing governmental misconduct is not spent discussing the guy with a bullet in his back,” Kuby, who has represented several high-profile murder defendants, told Courthouse News.
Mangione’s defense team raised these concerns about the pretrial publicity in their motion to block the death penalty. As well as the posts from Gilmartin and Nieves, they took issue with public statements made by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who famously announced that the Justice Department would be seeking capital punishment against Mangione weeks before securing an indictment.
“I was a capital prosecutor,” Bondi told Fox News 11 days before a federal grand jury indicted Mangione. “I tried death penalty cases throughout my career. If there was ever a death case, this is one.”
Mangione’s lawyers claimed this and other statements from Bondi prove the Justice Department brought the death penalty “unabashedly for political reasons.” They also directed ire toward the White House, questioning how a fair jury can be selected when the executive’s top officials — including the president — continue to imply Mangione’s guilt in public statements.
Federal prosecutors say they’ll respond to those accusations against the White House in a later filing. For now, they’ve tried to assure the Joe Biden-appointed Garnett that no punishment is necessary for the officials’ social media activity.
“The defense offers no evidence that any prospective juror has been exposed to or affected by the reposted content,” they wrote.
Garnett is yet to rule. But it’s all a welcome distraction for any defendant, according to Kuby.
“As a defense lawyer, I want to focus on anything other than what my client is accused of doing,” he said. “And the Trump DOJ makes that easy.”
Meanwhile, the government is now fighting battles on two fronts; not only are they trying their murder case, but they’re also needing to answer for the social media activity of their superiors.
“High-profile cases and trial work in general take up an enormous amount of energy, focus and attention, and any distraction or deviation from that focus is not helpful to the trial team,” said former federal prosecutor Justin Danilewitz, now a white-collar lawyer at Saul Ewing LLP. “This unquestionably would take some amount of attention away from the day-to-day work of prosecuting the case.”
Danilewitz is less than convinced by the government’s argument that Gilmartin and Nieves are not adequately “associated with” the prosecution team. He said that, in his experience, judges have been reluctant to distinguish between the government and the prosecution — let alone accept a distinction between the trial team and the prosecuting agency itself.
“Prosecutors never speak about their cases in public,” said former Brooklyn prosecutor Sarena Townsend, now the owner of Townsend Law in New York City. “Everybody knows that. And the reason you don’t is exactly because of this. You do not want to unfairly prejudice the case or the defendant.”
Some of Mangione’s most fervent supporters hope these pretrial statements will be enough to get the case dismissed altogether or perhaps serve as the basis for tossing the death penalty on their own. That would be an “astonishing” result, according to Kuby.
Still, the statements could kneecap prosecutors’ ability to prove the necessity of capital punishment in the long run. They could also erode the public’s trust in the Justice Department ahead of the case.
Townsend said the statements about Luigi — from Gilmartin, Nieves, Bondi, even Trump — “really backfired because the general populace, especially in New York, don’t really look at that favorably.”
“Your jury pool is potentially looking at this and just being so mistrustful of law enforcement and of the prosecutors,” she said.
When Garnett does rule, her order could have a far-reaching effect on high-profile prosecutions across the country.
Trump administration officials have not shied away from making public statements about the suspect in right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk’s killing, for example. And while that case is currently being handled by local prosecutors in Utah, not the Justice Department, the statements nonetheless give the defendant’s lawyers something to latch onto.
“In an otherwise very strong, long prosecution case, where there might be very little for the defense to work with, these are unforced errors by the government,” Danilewitz said. “It’s on the mind of most defense lawyers that there’s an opportunity that could present itself from these missteps by the government.”
“It broadly puts the entire Department of Justice on notice about the perils of public statements, particularly in the most controversial cases,” he added.
For Kuby, he could only describe the situation with one word.
“It’s stupid,” he said. “But from my perspective as a defense lawyer, I find this level of obdurate incompetence to be delightful.”