On Friday, a federal judge ruled that prosecutors will not be able to pursue the death penalty for accused assassin Luigi Mangione. Mangione is accused of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The judge, U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett, dismissed two of the four charges against Mangione, leaving two federal stalking counts, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors cannot pursue a death sentence against Luigi Mangione in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a federal judge ruled Friday, delivering a blow to prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett dismissed two of the four federal counts against Mangione: murder through use of a firearm, which carries a potential death sentence, and a related firearms offense.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, in April, had ordered federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in Mangione's case, calling the act a "premeditated, cold-blooded assassination".
Note that these are the federal charges Mangione faces. He also faces state charges in Pennsylvania and New York.
The New York charges include Murder in the Second Degree (intentional murder; Penal Law §125.25(1)), Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (two counts; Penal Law §§265.03(1)(b) and 265.03(3)), Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree ( Penal Law §265.02(7)), Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree (two counts; Penal Law §265.02(8)), Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree ( Penal Law §265.02(2)), Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree ( Penal Law §265.01(9)), and Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree ( Penal Law §170.25).
The Pennsylvania charges include possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery, and providing false identification to police.
Mangione, in other words, is still in lots of trouble. New York, we should note, does not have the death penalty at the state level, but a guilty verdict in the above-listed accusations may still result in substantial prison time.
Garnett left in place two federal stalking counts, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty.
Garnett ruled that the murder charge was technically flawed. It can be used only in tandem with a “crime of violence.” The prosecution argued that Mangione’s alleged stalking of Thompson met that standard. Garnett disagreed.
“The analysis contained in the balance of this opinion 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,” Garnett wrote.
Mangione is accused of the shooting death of Brian Thompson in Manhattan on December 4th, 2024. Thompson had just left his hotel on his way to a conference.
Judge Garnett, in a separate ruling, also denied Mangione's request to suppress evidence taken from Mangione's backpack that was taken when he was captured and arrested in a Pennsylvania McDonald's on December 9th, five days after Thompson was shot. The backpack reportedly contained a "ghost" gun along with fake IDs and materials indicating Mangione's displeasure with the United States' healthcare insurance systems.
Read More: Judge in Luigi Mangione Case Orders Everyone in DOJ to Stop Retweeting Mean Tweets
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You may view Judge Garnett's ruling here.
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